Maximum Ride: Nevermore
by PandaJayne2
Summary: The fate of the world rests on Max's shoulders. With her flock falling apart and her world crumbling down around her she realises that she can't keep running forever. But can she manage to step up and save the world, without the flock by her side?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is my first ever fanfic so please don't judge me too harshly. I don't really know where this is going so any ideas would be helpful. I hope you enjoy :)**

I always thought that the six us were inseparable. Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel and I. I just assumed that it would stay that way forever. Us flying high up in the sky, not really caring about where we were going as long as we had eachother.

I know that sounds kinda corny but I really did believe that. How stupid of me. We obviously couldn't stay that way forever. We had to face reality sometime.

The first 10 years of my life were miserable. Growing up in a crate, being experimented on and seeing the ones I loved in pain.

Then we escaped. We were finally free. It was the best feeling in the world. I would have loved to have kept that feeling forever but unfortunately life doesn't work that way.

Even though I knew that, there was some part of me that still hoped that my life would stay that way. That hope diminished when Fang left.

I was devasted. I tried to stay strong for my flock, I really did. But I just couldn't. I was a mess. If it weren't for my flock I wouldn't have even seen the point in living anymore. When Fang left it was as if he took apart of me with him. I never knew how much I needed him until he was gone.

I honestly didn't think my life could get any crappier at that point. But then the universe decided that I wasn't in enough pain and made my life even more miserable.

They took my baby away from me. I don't know what happened to Angel. It's been a month since she disappeared. I spent every waking hour looking for her.

I was told I was wasting my time and that she died in the explosion but I refused to believe it. Angel was such a strong and brave kid. She couldn't be dead she just couldn't be. But the longer I searched and there was still no sign of her, I started to doubt myself.

Now it is just Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Dylan and me. Everyone is miserable. Even Dylan, who didn't even know Angel that well, was depressed.

Iggy always go off by himself. I rarely see him nowadays.

Nudge tried her best to stay positive and keep the group together but it was pointless and I think she knew that. At night I can sometimes hear her crying. Angel was like her best friend.

Dylan took care of us. I felt guilty because that was supposed to be my job. He made us get up in the mornings and eat breakfast and get washed and dressed and everything but you could tell his heart just wasn't in it.

Gazzy was the worst of the lot and I don't blame him. He was only 9 years old. Not only did he have no parents but now he has no sister too. Gazzy hasn't talked since we stopped searching for Angel. We've all attempted to make him speak. You can guess how well that turned out. He doesn't even acknowledge us. If you ask him something he just remains still and stares off into the distance.

We don't even do the bedtime ritual anymore, where we would stack our fists on top of one another's. That was like a tradition! What happened to us?

We were all unhappy. As a leader it's my job to keep the flock together but I have no idea how to do it. _**Just carry on with the mission Max. **_said the Voice._** You have to save the world**__. _

_Oh really, I didn't know that. _I thought back sarcastically. _How about you stop telling me I have to save the world and start telling me how to save the world?._ I waited for a response but nothing came. Big surprise there.

_Can you at least tell me where to start?_ I pleaded. For a few seconds there was silence. I sighed in frustration. I hated it when the voice never gave me a straight answer. And then it finally replied. _**Australia**_

Australia. I've been to a lot of places, and I mean a lot. But I've never been to Australia. I didn't know much about the place to be honest. But it sounded like fun and hopefully it will take everyone's mind off of Angel.

I walked into our living room to find Nudge, Dylan and Gazzy silently watching the TV. Iggy must be in the kitchen. "Ig, could you come in here for a sec?" I yelled. I didn't hear him respond but I could hear him making his way toward the room.

When he arrived he took a seat next to Nudge and turned his head in my direction expectantly. "What's up Max?" he said.

"Pack your bags guys. We're going to Australia" Nudge squealed and gave me a grin that looked like it was about to break her face.

Gazzy actually took his attention off the TV to look at me with curious eyes. That was the most emotion I've seen from him in weeks.

Iggy took a while to actually comprehend what I was saying but when he understood even he couldn't help flashing a small grin.

"Why are we going there?" asked Dylan. He too was smiling.

_Because the voice told me too_ didn't sound like a very good reason to just pick up and leave. So I simply said this.

"Because we're going to save the world".

**Thanks for reading :) Please review! Any writing tips or criticism is welcome**


	2. Chapter 2

It took us 3 days to fly to Australia. We had to make more stops than usual because of all the stuff we were carrying with us.

I was against bringing anything along because I knew it would just slow us down but the others insisted that we bring bags of clothes and food and even sleeping bags. Sleeping bags! We never used to use sleeping bags so I didn't understand why we needed them now. Anyway, I was out voted, 3 to 1 (Gazzy didn't vote).

We arrived at the top part of Australia, somewhere near Darwin I think. It was around midnight and we were all tired and grumpy, so as soon as we landed everyone collapsed and almost immediately fell asleep. "I guess I'll take the first watch" I muttered under my breath.

I sat down on the sandy ground and looked around at my flock. It just wasn't the same without Fang or Angel. I looked at our surroundings and all I could see was sand, a few bushes and more sand. Well, Australia was known for its deserts...

Even though we had a huge meal a few hours ago, I was hungry again. I searched through my pack pulling out all sorts of bits and pieces until I found a small bag of salt and vinegar chips. It'll have to do. I sat there eating my crisps and staring up at the night sky.

The stars looked so different here. There were so much brighter than the ones I was used to.

"The stars are pretty amazing over here aren't they?" I jumped slightly at the sound of Dylan's voice. He was sitting a short distance away from me and gazing up at the sky.

I didn't know he was awake. I didn't even hear him get up. I guess I must have been too preoccupied looking at the sky.

"Yeah, I guess they are" I replied.

"The north pole faces away from the centre of the milky way where as the south pole doesn't. That's why, in the southern hemisphere, the stars are brighter and there are more of them". I'm not sure I understood a word of what he said but I sure as hell wasn't going to tell him that.

"Oh" was all I said, wishing I could come up with a better reply. For a while neither of us said anything. We sat there in silence as we continued to gaze up at the sky.

It wasn't the comfortable silence that I usually experienced with Fang either, it was one of those awkward silences that seemed to go on forever. I hadn't really been alone with Dylan since the night we kissed in Paris. I've been trying to avoid him ever since.

It's not that I was angry with him or anything its just I didn't want him to bring up the topic. I was so confused. I thought I loved Fang. But when Dylan kissed me... It felt, right I guess. I actually enjoyed it. But I didn't want to feel that way. Dylan only loves me because he was designed to. It's all too confusing!

I was about to say that he can take the next watch because I wanted some sleep but he spoke first. "What's going on with us Max?". Crap. He's bringing it up. I decided to act dumb.

"What are you talking about?".

"I'm talking about us. What's going on? We kissed in Paris and I thought we were going to be together but you've been avoiding me ever since. And whenever I try to talk to you about it you always change the subject. What's up with that?"

I didn't answer him. Mainly because I didn't know the answer. What _was_ going on? I stared at the ground and refused to make eye contact with him. "Is it Fang?" He asked softly.

Again, I didn't know the answer. I was pissed at Fang for leaving us but I still wanted him back. I was angry at him for replacing me with my clone but whenever I see him with her I get jealous.

"No. Yes. I don't know" I felt like any idiot as soon as the words came out of my mouth. _Yes, those are the three options Max but which one is the answer? _I thought to myself.

Dylan waited for me to continue but when he realised I had nothing more to say he simply sighed and said "You go to sleep. I'll keep watch" I nodded silently and lay down on my left side so I wasn't facing Dylan.

Dylan was a great guy and I hated that I was doing this to him. It was unfair to keep him waiting like this. I had to make up my mind already. Dylan or Fang?


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter is a little longer than the others. I will try to make all of them around this length from now on. Special thanks to LollipopDreams and purple mickey for reviewing! It really means a lot to me! You guys are awesome! :D**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Maximum Ride (yet), it comes from the brilliant mind of James Patterson. (I forgot to do this for the other chapters so let's just say this is for the entire story...)**

* * *

><p>The next morning I woke up at around 9:30. It was January, so I thought that it would be freezing but I completely forgot that winter in America meant summer in Australia, AND IT WAS FREAKING HOT! It was only the morning and I was already sweating buckets!<p>

I sat up and squinted in the blazing sunlight. "Max can we please, please, please find somewhere with a little shade?" pleaded Nudge. She had her wings at an odd angle in an attempt to keep the sun away from her face.

I also was desperate to get out of the sun so I just picked up my bag and took off into the sky, not even bothering to see if the others were following.

We flew for a few minutes until we came across a small, circular lake. It was about 30 feet wide and 10 feet deep but it was just perfect for us.

The water was surprisingly clear. I could see right to the bottom of the lake. Yay! I can swim without being paranoid that something's going to eat me... I jumped into the lake with my wings still held out and sighed as my body was submerged in the refreshing coolness of the water. It felt amazing!

The trees surrounding the lake created a barrier between the sun and the water so it was the perfect temperature. I stayed under the water for a few minutes, breathing through my gills and enjoying the feeling of the water on my skin.

I could have stayed beneath the surface for hours but I reluctantly came back up to check on my flock. Nudge was peacefully floating on her back with her tawny, russet wings stretched out beneath her. I never noticed before now but her wings were almost the same size as mine. She's grown so much over the past few years.

Iggy and the Gasman were have some kind of splash fight and Gazzy was actually laughing! I guess coming to Australia was a good move.

Dylan was few feet away from me, watching Iggy and Gazzy's fight as well. He was laughing at their amateurish attempts at making waves and then joined in, creating a huge wave that collapsed right on top of Iggy's head.

I never noticed how amazing his smile was. His teeth were sparkling white and perfectly shaped. I wondered if they were modified to look like that or if they're just naturally perfect. He must have sensed me staring at him because he suddenly looked up to meet my gaze. I hurriedly looked away, forcing down a blush that I could feel creeping up to my cheeks.

I swam over to Nudge and started talking to her. I could still feel Dylan's eyes on me but I tried my best to ignore it and listen to what Nudge was saying. "I really think we should go to the Gold Coast because that's where all the theme parks are. They have Movie World, Sea World, Dreamworld. OMG! We have to go to Dreamworld! I read that there was this one ride that" I soon zoned out, regretting my decision to talk to Nudge.

My stomach growled loudly. We were starting to run out of food, even though we brought two weeks worth of it along with us. Before we left I took a load of money out and transferred it to Australian currency because I didn't think my card would work over here. Suprisingly, my card hasn't maxed out yet (get it? MAXed out? Oh nevermind...).

"I'm going to go find a shop. We're running out of food so I'm going stock up on some more. Any requests?" I wasn't really planning on buying any specific foods for them, I was just trying to sound poilte because that's just the kind person that I am.

"Ooh you should buy vegemite. I've always wanted to try vegemite. And cherry ripes. And tim tams. And lamingtons. Oh and buy some Weet bix too!" squealed Nudge. I hadn't heard of most of those things before but I just nodded along.

I was about to take off when Dylan said "I'll come with you".

"Uh, no thanks I think I can manage this by myself, besides I need you to stay here and look after the flock" Dylan looked like he was about to argue but he thought better of it and just nodded in agreement.

I soared up into the sky, flying high above the trees with the sun beating down on my wings. Flying was so exhilarating! I have no idea why Nudge would have ever wanted to have her wings removed.

It didn't take me long to find what I was looking for. I landed in front of the small, run-down, old building. It was situated on the side of the long dusty road and stood next to an equally as old gas station. The store didn't have enough money for air conditioners so it had to make do with fans but all they did was blow the hot air around.

I found a few of the items that Nudge had mentioned including Vegemite and TimTams but I couldn't be bothered looking for the rest. Once I had payed for my items and left the store a weird feeling came over me.

It was kind of like that tingling feeling you get when you think you're being watched . I did a 360 and saw nothing but the little corner shop. I didn't want to hang around much longer so I took off into the air and quickly flew back to our little lake.

Everyone was still lounging around in the water and I longed to join them. But I resisted the urge and moved all the food into the packs first so we would be able to leave at a moment's notice. I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was being followed.

Again I searched our surroundings and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Even if someone was following us Dylan would have seen them by now.

As if right on cue Dylan jumped out of the water and was yelling for everyone to get out as well. "What's going on?" I asked him but I think I already knew the answer.

"Someone's coming, we have to go now!" He shook most of the water out of his hair and wings and hastily picked up his bag. I saw the rest of the flock follow his lead and pick up their bags as well.

I was about to pick mine up when something hard hit me in the back of my head. I fell to the ground, my head throbbing painfully.

"MAX!" I heard someone yell but my brain wasn't functioning all that well and it wasn't able to determine whose voice it was. My vision was blurry so I couldn't see what was going on either.

I placed my hands on the ground and tried to stand up but failed. I heard someone laugh at my pathetic attempt to get back on my feet and for the second time in less then a minute, I was struck on the back of my head, with what felt like the same object as before. That was all I could remember before I blacked out.

**Please review and tell me what you think! Thanks :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Only 3 reviews! Come on guys, you can do better than that. And remember, criticism is always welcome! :)**

* * *

><p>God my head hurt. My skull felt like it could split open at any second. It wasn't as bad as my brain attacks but still, it rates pretty high on the pain scale.<p>

I remained still, listening to the steady throbbing of my head. Each throb bringing a new wave of agony. I let a pitiful moan escape my lips not even bothering to care about how weak and pathetic I must look right now.

I didn't move, I didn't even open my eyes for fear of making my headache even worse. The floor beneath me was cold and hard and there was a strong disinfectant smell in the air.

For a moment I dreaded that I was back at the school but soon realised that that was impossible. The school was ages away. I couldn't have been out that long.

After a few minutes I gingerly sat up. My headache wasn't any better but it wasn't getting worse either.

I forced opened my heavy eye lids and blinked a few times get rid of the blurriness. I was sitting on a flat, stone floor. The walls were painted a dull grey colour identical to the ceiling. The room was completely bare. No furniture or anything.

I looked around in search of my flock only to find that I was alone in the room. _Where were they? Were they here somewhere?_ I was lost in my own thoughts that I didn't notice that I was no longer alone.

"Ah Max, you're awake" I was startled at the sound of the voice. It was one that I didn't recognise. I automatically stiffened and went on red alert mode. I turned, wincing at the pain that erupted in my head at the sudden movement. There was a man standing in a large, rigid doorway that I didn't take much notice of before.

He looked fairly young, probably late twenties. He was wearing a plain back shirt with matching blank pants. It looked like he'd taken his entire outfit right from Fang's wardrobe. Except for the white lab coat draped over his shoulders. My breath caught in my throat. White lab coat = DANGER!

"It's okay Max, I'm not going to hurt you." He said calmly peering over the top of his square rimmed glasses. Like I was going to believe that. For one thing, he was obviously a whitecoat. He was one of them. And secondly, he had red hair. And from my past experiences I've learnt that all red heads are evil. Coincidence? I think not.

Instead of firing all the questions currently forming in my brain at him, I settled on giving him one of my ice cold glares. He looked startled at first but then quickly wiped the emotion from his face and resumed his professional manner.

"If you would please follow me as I show you to your room." What? My room? Is this a hotel or something? I don't think I've ever heard a whitecoat sound so polite. Usually it's all like 'Get in the cage or I shall beat you to death with a bat'. Okay so it wasn't exactly like that but you get the idea.

I just stared at the man, confusion written all over my face. "Well surely you don't want to stay in here?" asked the man gesturing at the room I was currently sitting in. I was still confused at the man's proposal but come to think of it, the disinfectant smell was starting to make me a teensy bit dizzy.

Or maybe my headache was just getting worse. Either way I slowly got to my feet which believe me, was no easy task. My legs were numb and felt like lead. Geez, how long was I out?

I walked passed the man making sure I bumped into him as I did so. I heard him stagger behind me and allowed myself a small smirk.

I looked around and saw I was standing in a small hallway with walls the identical shade of grey as the walls in the room. Whoever designed this building must have had no taste at all. I scanned the hall for an escape route found nothing. And I mean literally _nothing_.

There was no doors leading to other rooms or windows to show whereabouts I was. Come to think of it, I don't remember seeing any windows back in the room either. What was this place. "This way please" said the man as he walked off down the hall.

I stayed where I was, curious to see where the man was headed because of the lack of doors. He walked right to the end of the hall and stopped in front of the wall. I saw him extend an arm out in front of him and touch something I couldn't see on the wall. Automatically the wall split right down the middle and slid to the sides like an elevator door.

"Well hurry up!" he snapped, losing patience with me. I walked forward, hesitating before stepping through. The man followed close behind me and pressed a button.

The doors, or should I say wall, slid shut immediately. Now that I looked around I saw that it actually was an elevator. It had the row of numbers on it and everything. He pressed the number six and we started going up. I clung to the hand rails until my knickles turned white. I hated being inside small rooms let alone moving ones.

_**Breathe Max, just breathe.**_ said the voice. Before I had time to come up with a clever sarcastic response I realised that I actually wasn't breathing. I did as the voice said and focused on my breathing, mentally saying in and out with each breath.

_God when will this thing stop!. _As if right on cue, the elevator came to a complete halt. The doors/wall slid open and before I could breathe a sigh of relief I heard a high pitched scream of "MAX!" and was suddenly knocked off my feet as someone landed on top of me. A clump of tangled blonde curls obscured my vision.

"Angel?"

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! And don't forget to review! :)<strong>


	5. Chapter 5

**I need your help guys! I can't decide if Max should end up with Fang or with Dylan. I love them both! At first I prefered Fang but then he left the flock and I haven't really forgiven him for that and then I was kind of leaning towards Dylan but he only loves Max because he was designed to so I don't know! There's a poll on my profile so please help me out and vote on who you think should up with Max. Oh and thanks again to LollipopDreams for reviewing every chapter I've done so far. I probably would have given up by now if it weren't for you. I think I'm more of a reader than a writer... Anyway, I'm rambling on like Nudge now so back to the story :)**

* * *

><p>"What are...how did...what's...huh?" I stuttered. My brain was in shock and I found that I wasn't able to string together words to make a coherent sentence.<p>

"Max! I missed you so much! It's been horrible here! Where are the others?" Angel was hugging me so tightly that it was very difficult to get to my feet.

"But...you're here! You're not dead!" I exclaimed.

"Well duh." said Angel. I smiled in spite of myself. She reminded me so much of me sometimes. She clambered off of me and then helped me up. I couldn't believe she was actually here. She didn't look too bad either. She lost a considerable amount of weight but she still looked just like the Angel remembered.

She grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the other side of the room. It was much different to the room I woke up in. The walls and roof were a sky blue colour and instead of a cold stone floor it was a thick cream coloured carpet. The room was bare apart from two small beds and a door that led to what looked like an ensuite. How fancy.

"What's the matter, run out of dog cages?" I asked the red headed man. At that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room and back into the elevator.

Don't you just love it when you piss people off so much that they can't stand to be in the same room as you? I heard Angel giggle beside me and realised she must be reading my thoughts.

"So what happened Angel? After the explosion I mean?"

"I dunno. One minute Iggy and Gazzy were deactivating the bombs and the next I was strapped down to a table." I gave her a quizzical look and she then realised that she hadn't explained very well.

"I must have been knocked out and when I woke up I was strapped down on some operating thing. I was hooked up to a bunch of machines and I had electrodes taped to me and stuff. It was pretty horrible. I couldn't move or anything. I don't know what they did exactly. But the next day they brought me here and I've been living in this room ever since."

Angel sighed and sat down on one of the beds. "It's been very boring. Especially with no one to talk to. When Adam came to deliver my food yesterday I heard his thoughts and he was thinking about how they caught another one of them and I assumed he meant one of the flock but I didn't know which one of you they'd gotten."

My brain was whirring, trying to process all of this new information. "Who's Adam?" I asked as I sat down on the bed next to her.

"The man that dropped you off. He delivers food here twice a day and brings me anything else I need. It's like staying at a hotel!". She smiled at me and I tried my best to smile back.

I was glad she was ok but I still had a million unanswered questions. Where were we? Where was the rest of the flock? Why were we being treated like this? I'm used to living in cages and being regarded as just another experiment so you can see why I thought it was a little odd to be treated to my own room and everything.

I got up and walked over to where the elevator was. At least where I thought it was. The wall had moved back into place once Adam had gotten back into the elevator. Now there was no trace that there was ever an elavator there. I have to admit it was pretty impressive.

I ran my hands along the smooth blue wall looking for a switch, a button, or anything that could open up the elevator but I found nothing. "It's no use. I've tried everything." said Angel.

I turned and walked through the door and into the ensuite. No windows. Big surprise... I ran my hand along the wall in there too just to make sure.

When nothing happened I sighed in frustration and walked back to Angel. "So what do we do?" She asked. I looked at her, unsure of what she was actually asking.

"What do you mean sweetie?" I said.

"Well what's the plan? How are we escaping?" My heart sunk. I had no plan. At all. She looked at me expectantly, waiting to hear my brilliant escape plan.

Sometimes I wish I wasn't the leader. Everyone relies on you to get them out of a sticky situation. And when you fail at that, it feels like it's your fault and that you let everyone down. I didn't want to do that to Angel but I had no clue how to get out of this. Hell I couldn't even work out how to open the elevator let alone plan an escape route.

"It's okay Max, we'll figure something out." Angel said reading my thoughts. Sometimes I really wish she wouldn't do that. Will I ever have complete privacy? "Not as long as I'm around." said Angel.

She yawned and then lay down on her bed. I got up to make my way over to my bed when Angel grabbed the hem of my shirt. "Stay" she wispered before closing her eyes.

I smiled and laid down beside her, wrapping my arms around her as I did so. All that had happened today finally caught up to me and I instantly felt my eyelids grow heavy. Right at that moment, I didn't care that I didn't know where I was or what I was doing there or even that I didn't have an escape plan. All that mattered was that I had my baby back and that she was safe, for now at least.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't forget to review :D<strong>


	6. Chapter 6

"What about here?" Nudge asked. Not even waiting for an answer, she landed on the sandy ground and plonked her bag down next to her.

"Yeah, this will do" said Dylan as him and the rest of the flock landed too. Dylan had been the one to step up when Max was taken. He was also the one that fought the hardest against them. When he saw them knock out Max all hell broke loose. He took down like 3 of those guys in a matter of seconds. He looked a little scary actually.

He still blames himself for Max's kidnapping though. He thinks that if he warned everyone earlier they could have escaped. It wasn't his fault though. There were too many of them, he couldn't protect everyone. But no matter how many times Nudge has tried to explain that to him he hasn't listened.

They tried to follow them but they were too fast and soon they were out of sight. Nudge didn't know what they were. They looked kind of like bank robbers to her. The were dressed fully in black and had those mask things on their faces.

Nudge reached over towards Dylan and grabbed Max's pack which he'd carried along with his own. Nudge opened it and rummaged inside for something to eat and pulled out a jar of vegemite. "Oooh" she said as she twisted open the lid. She stuck her finger in the thick black spread and tried some.

Immediately she gagged and spat it out all over the floor. She hurriedly pulled out a water bottle and rinsed her mouth out. "This stuff is terrible. Who in their right mind would buy this crap?"

"It can't be that bad." said Iggy.

"Oh yeah? You try it then!" She put the lid back on and threw it to Iggy, but being blind, he didn't seeing it coming and it hit him on the side of the head.

"Hey!" he yelled as he rubbed his left temple. He opened the jar and stuck his finger in before passing it to Dylan and Gazzy. Iggy didn't spit it out like Nudge did but by the revolted look on his face you could tell he wasn't very impressed.

"Well," he began while swallowing his mouthful of vegemite, with dificulty by the looks of it. "It's, it's, uh, strong". Nudge rolled her eyes. Iggy just didn't want to admit it was awful after he said that it couldn't be that bad.

Nudge was pulled away from her thoughts by the sound of Dylan spitting out his mouthful of vegemite as well. He pulled the water bottle right from Iggy's hands just as he was about to take a sip. "That's cool. It's not like I was about to drink from that or anything." said Iggy, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Nudge giggled and watched as Dylan attempted to get the salty flavour out of his mouth.

"I think it tastes fine."

Dylan choked on his water and had a coughing fit, Iggy froze and Nudge just stared. Gazzy was happily sticking his finger back into the vegemite tub when he saw three pairs of shocked eyes looking at him.

"What?" he said. "It's really not that bad."

"Gazzy, you're talking!" Nudge said, still dumbstruck. Gazzy just shrugged in a "so what?" kind of way and continued eating his vegemite. Nudge got up, walked over to Gazzy and threw her arms around him.

"Gerroffmenudge!" It was hard to understand what he was saying as his mouth was suddenly full of Nudge's hair. Nudge still didn't let go. She was just so happy to have him back, the real Gazzy.

For ages Nudge thought that the flock was beyond repair. That they could never go back to the way they used to be with Angel gone. But hearing Gazzy's voice again gave Nudge hope. If he could move on then so could she. So could everyone.

* * *

><p><strong>I know, it's kind of a cheesy chapter. I will try to make the next one better. And a word of advice, don't eat vegemite straight from the tub. Put it on something first. <strong>

**Anyway, don't forget to review! And don't forget to vote for who you think Max should end up with. You can find the poll on my profile page. Thanks for reading :)**


	7. Chapter 7

If only I knew how to work the elevator. I've searched for hours, skimming my hands along the wall and hoping to find, well anything. I've thought about waiting for Adam to come and bring our food but he never actually gets out of the elevator. He just puts our food on the floor and leaves. Just like that.

If only I could get him out of the elevator and then run in before the doors shut. I'd need a distraction though. Something to make him get out of the elevator in the first place.

"Angel! I've got it!" I yelled excitedly. I sat up straight on my bed.

"Got what?" she asked curiously. I didn't want to say my plan out loud in case people were listening in. There was a chance that we weren't under surveillance but it's better to be safe than sorry. _You can still change your appearance right? _I asked in my head. _Yeah, why? _she replied. _Because I've just thought of an escape plan. _

* * *

><p>The next day we were silently waiting in our positions for Adam so we could put our plan into action. I was crouched behind my bed with a pillow in my hand. We had moved the beds so that they were closer to the elevator but not close enough so that I could be seen by Adam.<p>

Angel was tied up and gagged with the sheets from our beds. She gave herself straight black hair, emerald green eyes and made herself slightly chubby. She'd been practicing her 'shape shifting' ability and could practically change into anything now. She also made herself look about 20 years older as well. We needed Adam to think she worked here.

We heard a faint ding and the wall started to slide open. _Showtime. _Angel started screaming and thrashing about on the floor. "What the..." Adam looked startled and quickly put down the tray of food and hurried over to help her.

I leaped over the bed and just managed to shove the pillow in between the doors before it slid shut. Adam hadn't even noticed. He was too preoccupied with Angel. We were hoping that he'd think that they sent a woman to check on us and we tied her up and escaped.

By the looks of it, we'd succeeded in making him believe that. "Did they do this to you?" he asked as he tried to untie her. I snuck up behind him and whacked him right in the back of the head, probably a little harder than was necessary. He went down like a ton a bricks and I just shoved him aside and started to untie Angel.

It was a lot easier to do so after she had morphed back to her old self. She practically slipped out of the loops and knots without me having to untie them. I helped her up and we ran to the door.

The pillow was still holding the door ajar so all I had to do was pull the door back enough for us to slip through. "Now what?" asked Angel once we were inside. I scanned the buttons unsure of which one to press until I came across one that said 'roof'.

I slammed my fist against it and we started moving upwards. I didn't have to worry about being in an elevator as I was so pumped up on adrenaline that I didn't really notice the squirmy feeling in the pit of my stomach. The plan was going a lot smoother than I expected. It was by far the easier escape I'd ever made. That is, until we got to the roof.

I expected us to just walk on out, open up our wings and jump of the side of the building. I didn't even consider that there might be people on top.

There were twelve, huge muscular men standing evenly spaced along the edge of the roof. They were three to each side and they were all looking up at the sky and carrying the biggest guns I have ever seen in my life. And I've seen a lot of guns before. These things were freaking massive. I had no idea how they could carry them. They must have weighed a ton.

We had already stepped out of the elevator and the door slid shut behind us. I turned only to face a blank wall. Seriously how do these things work? None of the guards had noticed us. They were gazing intently at the sky, probably looking to see if any of the flock would show up and try to rescue us.

That was a good sign. That meant that the rest of the flock wasn't being held captive here somewhere. I made a mental note to congratulate them on escaping when we get back. If we got back.

One of the guards decided to randomly do a 360 of the area and saw me and Angel standing there like statues. He gasped and aimed his gun at us. I instinctively moved in front of Angel and held up my hands as if to stop the bullet.

Instead of hearing the boom of the gun I heard the man swear. I looked up to see the man standing there with a confused look on his face. He staring at his hands where only seconds earlier was a gun. He looked over the side of the building and then looked at me. "How the hell did you do that?" he growled at me.

The other guards were now aware that we were standing there. They all raised there guns at us simultaneously. _Oh crap, we're doomed_. "Max do it again!" whispered Angel.

"Do what?" I asked, having no idea what she was referring to.

"The thing with your hands" she whispered anxiously. She stared hard at the three guards to left of her and one by one they put there guns down but there was still eight more to go.

"Quickly!" she hissed. I had no clue what she was on about. I tried to think about what I had down out of the ordinary in the last few minutes with my hands and all I could remember was when I held them out to protect myself from the impending bullets.

Angel nodded once, clearing reading my thoughts. Still confused, I pushed my hands out in front of me and watched amazed as the guy who was standing in front of me was thrown back. His gun slid off the side of the roof as he fell to the ground. "Well that's a handy new trick."


	8. Chapter 8

I slammed my palms forward towards the next guy with so much force that he was actually thrown off the building. Woops! Marvelling at my new power I took off and got to work on the guards on my right as Angel took care of the ones behind us.

They were standing still with shock, their mouths slightly open. They were probably trying to figure out how I pushed one of their fellow guards off the roof without even touching him. Heck, even I was trying to figure that out.

I took advantage of their confusion and aimed a roundhouse kick at one the guard's guns and sent it flying out of his hands. I then punched him in the jaw so hard that I actually felt it click. I winced as I watched his jaw dislocate right before my eyes.

I kicked him hard in the groin just as I heard a bullet whistle past my left ear. I spun around and saw a guard with his gun aimed at my head. His finger was about to pull the trigger again when I swung my arm through the air as if I was slapping someone.

In a blink of an eye his gun was knocked out of his hands. I then punched the air in front of me and he stumbled backwards as if my fist actually made contact with him. This was awesome.

I quickly wiped the smile off my face and got back into battle mode. I clapped my hands over one of the guard's ears and heard the satisfying pop of his eardrums.

I then elbowed another guy straight in the ribs and definitely heard one or more of them crack. Geez these guys were easy to take down.

I heard another gun fire and quickly snapped my head around to check if Angel was okay. I saw her fighting away, a few scratches and cuts but no sign that she was hit. I was so relieved that I didn't notice that one of the guards had gotten back to his feet.

He swung a punch and hit me right in the nose. I could tell it wasn't broken but there was still a lot of blood. He pulled his arm back to punch me again but I ducked just in time. I swung my leg out in front of me and knocked his legs out from under him.

I saw some of the other guards start to get back to their feet. I had to give them credit for their determination.

I ran over to Angel. "U and A! Now!" I yelled. I grabbed her around the waist and threw her in the air. She snapped her wings out just in time and I jumped into the air right after her.

We flew as hard and fast as we could. Well I could have gone faster but I didn't want to just leave Angel behind. I heard one more gun shot and felt the hard impact as the bullet hit the left side of my stomach. That bastard got me!

I dropped about a foot in the air but then quickly regained my height. Angel hadn't noticed that I was shot yet. She probably just assumed that all the blood on my shirt was from my nose.

I didn't want to tell her that it was a lot more serious than a blood nose. I didn't want to worry her. And plus, she'd make us stop to look at the wound and we just couldn't afford to do that right now. If they weren't after us yet they would be in a minute.

So I kept a straight face, gritted my teeth and flew on. I had my hand pressed over the bullet wound in an attempt to stop the flow of blood but pretty soon it came seeping out through my fingers. My breathing was getting shallower and I was finding it harder to keep a straight face.

"There they are!" screamed Angel pointing to a spot below us. By now we were flying over plain desert so it was easy to make out the figures below us. Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, Dylan and... Fang? What the hell was he doing here?

We flew down to where they were and as soon as we landed they all froze. They glanced briefly at me but there main focus was on Angel.

"Angel?" Nudge asked in disbelief. She nodded eagerly and Nudge ran forward and wrapped her arms around her. Followed by Gazzy, Iggy, Dylan and Fang. Fang isn't usually a very huggy person but I think he could make an exception for someone he believed to be dead for three months. I was still curious as to what he was doing here.

There was a lot of 'I can't believe you're here's and 'We thought you were dead!'s. Gazzy was sobbing, ecstatic to have his sister back. I smiled at the happy reunion but the pain in my abdomen grew too painful to bare.

When I was first shot I didn't really feel anything but now the pain was really starting to sink in. I felt a searing pain in my stomach like a raging hot fire was burning inside of me.

My vision became blurred, my head felt dizzy and I could literally feel the colour drain from my face. Unable to help myself, I collapsed to the ground and was pulled into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading guys :) Don't forget to vote and review!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

"You're never going to find them Fang." Star said. She, Holden, Kate and Ratchet were walking along the sandy desert below. Fang and Maya were flying above them looking every which way in search of the flock.

"Yeah, I mean have you seen how big Australia is man? They could be anywhere!" Ratchet yelled up to him. Fang brought them along to help look but all they've done so far is complain about the heat and how much their feet hurt.

"Or they could be right there" Maya said pointing to a spot somewhere to her left. Fang looked and saw four figures sitting in a circle on the ground below. _Four? that can't be right _thought Fang.

They sped up to reach the group. Kate, Holden and Ratchet had trouble keeping up but Star easily matched their pace.

They soon landed beside them. Nudge, Iggy, Dylan, Gazzy but no Max.

"Fang! Oh my gosh it's been like forever since I've seen you. No wait that's a lie. I think it was only three months. Or was it four months. No I think it was three. Well, either way it felt like forever. What are you doing here?"

Fang ignored her question. "Where's Max?" he asked.

"Dunno." Said Iggy before stuffing his face with a handful of chips.

"What do you mean you don't know?" asked Fang, his voice rising now.

"They took her" said Dylan somberly.

"Whose they?"

"I don't know who they were exactly. We didn't see what they looked like. They were wearing masks."

"Well why didn't you stop them!" Fang yelled at him. Dylan was taken aback by Fang's sudden rage.

"I, I tried." he stuttered.

"Well you didn't try hard enough!"

"It wasn't his fault Fang, lay off him!" argued Nudge.

"Well he's the one that's supposed to be so skilled at fighting. Aren't you like programmed to that or something! If you're that good then why couldn't you stop them. Would you rather save your own ass than save Max?"

"JUST SHUT UP!" yelled Dylan. Everyone stopped to look at him. It was very rare that Dylan lost his temper like that.

"I tried my best okay! I know it's my fault. You don't have to rub my face in it. But I didn't do it on purpose. I'd rather it was me than her. I would do anything to keep her safe. Unlike you." said Dylan. He had gotten to his feet by now and was standing a few feet away from Fang.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Fang angrily.

"It means that you just ditched her when she needed you. You said you were doing the right thing for her by leaving but you were just doing it for your own selfish reasons. And you didn't even have the guts to tell her straight to her face so all you leave her is a freaking letter!"

Fang froze. He didn't know that Dylan knew about that. "I did that because I had to. It was best for both of us if I left."

"Oh really? So the best thing for Max is for her to miserable? I would never ever hurt like that. And if you really loved Max then you wouldn't have hurt her like that either."

By that time Kate, Holden and Ratchet had just caught up with them and were trying to catch their breath. "Uh, we're going to go find some food or something" said Maya. She threw a quick nervous glance at Fang and then grabbed Star and Kate and led them off in another direction. Holden and Ratchet quickly followed.

"She deserves a whole lot better than you." Mumbled Dylan barely loud enough for anyone to hear. That one sentence made Fang snap. He swung his right fist and hit Dylan square in the jaw.

Dylan aimed a hard kick at Fang's ribs and he keeled over struggling for air. He was about to reciprocate when he was grabbed from behind.

"Iggy let go of me!" he snarled but his grip never slackened. Gazzy and Nudge each had one of Dylan's arms and were desperately trying to hold him back. Suddenly Nudge gasped and let go of Dylan's arm.

Dylan and the others followed Nudge's gaze and they all froze. Angel and Max were standing right there, just a few feet away from them.

"Angel?" Nudge asked, unsure whether she was imagining things or not. Angel nodded and Nudge ran over to her and wrapped her arms around her. "I can't believe it's you!" She sobbed into Angel's shoulder.

Gazzy was next to hug his sister. He too was crying. He was then followed by Iggy, Dylan and Fang.

"We missed you Angel" he said as he hugged her. He gave her one of his rare smiles and then let go. That was as mushy as Fang ever got.

Fang then turned his gaze to Max just as he saw her collapse.

"Max!" he yelled. He rushed over to her side and was quickly joined by Dylan. It took a while for the others to realise what was happening.

Fang looked over her cuts and bruises trying to find the source of all the blood. He found that her nose was bleeding quite badly but that was no reason for her to collapse. He noticed one of her hands was clutched to her stomach.

He pulled her bloody hand away and his breath caught in his throat. She'd been shot. Now that her hand was way the blood flowed more freely and soon the sand around her was stained scarlet.

"Max! Please, please open your eyes!" Dylan pleaded. Fang noticed his voice was about an octave higher than it was before. Dylan took Max's head in his hands and wiped away all of the blood. Max's eyes fluttered open a fraction of an inch but then quickly closed again. Dylan breathed a sigh of relief. She was still alive. Barely.


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys! Thanks to all those people who have reviewed! I seriously get so excited whenever I get a review :D I've had a lot of time on my hands so I've been updating pretty quickly but I don't know how much time I'll have to write when I go back to school which will be in a few weeks. So I'm writing as much as I can now instead :)**

* * *

><p>"Oh my god! Angel what happened to her?" Nudge asked when she saw Max's limp form lying in a pool of blood.<p>

"I, I don't know. She d-didn't say anything." Angel stuttered. She didn't know what was going on. One minute Max was flying and the next she was unconscious.

"I think she's been shot." said Fang, trying his best to keep his voice steady.

"Well what do we do? Do we take her to a hospital?" asked Gazzy. He rushed over and knelt beside Max. He picked up one of her hands and held it firmly in both of his.

"We can't. She's a mutant remember? They'll probably want to stick her in a zoo." Iggy said.

"But we took Fang to a hospital before and they didn't put him in a zoo."

"But we got lucky. We must have found one of the only doctors in the world who didn't freak out about me having wings." Fang said calmly.

"Well let's go back to him then!" suggested Nudge.

"We can't. He's on an entire different continent right now" Iggy pointed out.

"Well we've got to do something! Quickly! She's losing too much blood!" Nudge said frantically while wildly gesturing towards Max. "How can you guys not by freaking out right now?"

No one bothered to answer her. Angel went over to Nudge and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "We're going to have to risk it. She has to go to a hospital." Fang said making up his mind.

"But how are we going to get her there?" asked Gazzy.

"I'll carry her." Fang and Dylan responded at the exact same time. They both glared at eachother. "No, I'm carrying her!" They both said at the same time again. Dylan went to pick Max up when Fang interrupted him.

"No give her to me, I'll take her."

"Relax she'll be safe with me"

"Are you saying that she wouldn't be safe if I took her?"

"Well I was trying not to say it, but yeah that's what I was implying."

"Why you..."

"For god's sake guys! Now's not the time!" yelled Angel. Everyone looked at her. She sounding shockingly like Max when she said that. "Max is dying here! Now both of you shut up! Iggy will take her." Both Dylan and Fang were about to argue back but Angel gave them a glare of her own, one of the many things she learnt from Max.

She guided Iggy over to Max and he picked her up in his arms. "Now does anyone know whereabouts we are?"

"Somewhere in the Tanami desert I believe" The flock turned around to see Maya, Star, Holden, Kate and Ratchet had returned.

"That was quick." noted Fang.

"Couldn't find anything." Holden answered. He noticed Angel and his mouth opened slightly as if he were about to say something to her but then his eyes landed on Iggy who still held an unconscious and bloody Max in his arms. "What happened to her?" he asked nodding his head in her direction.

"Shot." Dylan replied without taking his eyes off of Max.

"The nearest hospital is not too far from here." Nudge said closing the laptop that she had brought with her. "We have to head east". Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, Dylan, Fang, Angel and Maya all snapped open their wings and were about to take off when they were interupted.

"Hello? What about us?" said Ratchet. "We can't fly remember!"

Fang hesitated and said "Alright, I'll go with Iggy to the hospital and Nudge, you come too because you know where you're going."

"Hang on a minute!" said Dylan, holding an arm out in front of Fang to stop him from going anywhere. "I'm coming with you,"

Fang shoved Dylan's arm away, his anger bubbling to the surface again. "No. You have to stay here and look after everyone."

"Hey! We don't need a babysitter!" Star spat at Fang. The others nodded in agreement but Fang and Dylan paid them no attention.

"I'm not leaving Max." Dylan growled. Fang knew that no matter what he said now, he wouldn't be able to change Dylan's mind.

"Fine" he sighed.

"We're coming to!" piped up Gazzy.

"Yeah, we just got the flock back together, we're not splitting up now!" said Angel defiantly. Fang sighed in frustration. He felt someone place a hand on his shoulder and turned around to find Maya standing there.

"It's okay Fang. You guys go. I'll stay with the others." she gave him a reasurring smile and Fang just nodded his head in thanks.

"Yo, hate to break you guys up but we really should be leaving." said Iggy impatiently. Almost half of his shirt was already soaked in Max's blood.

Fang took off into the air and was quickly followed by the rest of the flock. It was so peaceful and quiet up in the air. How ironic considering that the oppostie was going on inside Fang's head.

All that had happened in the past few minutes was replaying in his mind. The fight with Dylan, finding out Angel was alive and seeing Max collapse. Before, the fact that Max had been shot didn't really process in his brain but now, panic was starting to set in.

This was serious. What if the bullet didn't go all the way through and it was still inside her? What if they arrived at the hospital and the doctors' freaked out about us being mutant bird kids? Or worse, what if she didn't even make it to the hospital?

_'No, don't even think about that.' _he told himself. '_Of course she's going to make it. She's Max. She's tough, she's indestructible. She is going to pull through this.'_

Fang followed Nudge, beating his wings up and down in a steady rhythm while trying to keep the panic off his face. He carried on like this for a while and then realised he wasn't breathing. He focused on trying to time his breathing with each wing stroke.

His eyes wandered over to Iggy who held Max securely in his arms. Blood would occasionally drip down from Max's wound and Fang wondered what the people below were thinking when they felt a drop of blood fall onto them. Max's face was as pale as Fang had ever seen it.

He'd been an idiot. He'd wasted all that time arguing with Dylan. They could've been there by now if he hadn't been so obnoxious. He should have just let Dylan take her. He obviously cares a lot about her. He wants Max to be okay just as much as Fang does. He really meant it when he said he would never hurt her. '_Like I did' _Fang thought.

He cast his eyes back to Max. Even when she was unconscious and splattered with blood she was still beautiful. '_I'm so sorry Max. Dylan was right. You deserve a whole lot better than_ _me_.'

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! Don't forget to vote and review :D<strong>


	11. Chapter 11

Fang flung open the doors to the hospital and ran to the front desk. Dylan caught the doors before they slammed shut and held them open for the others.

"Please, we need to see a doctor right away. My friend's been shot," Dylan said to that woman sat behind the desk.

"And don't give us any of that 'please take a seat and fill out this form' crap. We need a doctor NOW!" Fang slammed his fist on the counter as he yelled the last word.

"Geez Fang, calm down," said Iggy out of the corner of his mouth. The woman was in shock. She obviously wasn't use to being spoken to that way. After a few seconds of silence the woman blinked a couple of times and finally answered.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Er, right this way." The woman got up from her seat and led them all through several doors before they finally came to a stop. The woman opened the door and stuck her head inside.

"Dr Martin? Is it at all possible that you could end your shift a little later today? There's an emergency." A man draped in a blue operating uniform pulled down his surgeon mask about to say something back to the woman when Iggy walked into the room holding Max.

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" he asked stunned.

"She's been shot. Well we think that's what happened but none of us actually saw it." answered Fang. Angel shifted uncomfortably, eyes staring intently at the floor. She was the only one that was there when it happened.

"Uh, very well then. Put her down on the table and I'll see what I can do but I must warn you, this doesn't look very promising." As he pulled on a pair of disposable gloves he addressed the woman.

"Miss Walker, could you please send Seder and Clery up as soon as possible. I'm going to need some extra help." The woman nodded and retreated from the room. "You six can go wait outside for now."

"We're not going anywhere." said Fang and the others nodded in agreement.

"I'm sorry but I really must insist that you leave. It's medical procedure."

"Screw the medical procedure! We're not going anywhere!" snarled Fang.

"I'm afraid that's not really your decision. Now please you need to vacate the operating room." The doctor looked at them expectantly but none of them moved. He sighed. "I promise I will call you back in as soon as we are finished."

Fang opened his mouth to argue when Iggy stopped him. "Just let it go Fang." Fang sighed in frustration and stormed out of the room. There was a row of chairs lined up along the oppostie wall. He collapsed into the nearest one and dropped his head into his hands.

"She's going to be fine Fang." he heard Angel's voice say.

"Oh yeah? How would you know?" he snapped back at her. Everyone was silent. Fang groaned into his hands, he could feel a headache coming on. "I'm sorry Angel," he whispered. "I'm just a little stressed out right now."

"It's okay.'' she replied, sitting down next to him. They sat in silence for a few mintues when Gazzy spoke up.

"Why are you here Fang?" Fang looked up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you come back?" He looked around at the rest of the flock and found that they were all staring at him waiting for his response. _Why did I come back? _The first answer that popped into his head was Max. But that wasn't the reason he told Maya, Star, Ratchet, Holden and Kate.

"I've been doing some more research into this whole doomsday group thing and for some reason they've been travelling. I don't know why but I was able to find out where they were headed next."

Everyone was silent trying to process this information until finally Dylan understood. "Australia" he whispered. Fang nodded.

"But that still doesn't explain how you knew we would be here," Dylan pointed out.

"I didn't know." he admitted. "I was hoping. I hoped that you guys would find out that they were headed to Australia next as well and decide to check it out." God he was sick of all this explaining. He hated talking in general. He didn't know how Nudge did it. It was just so tiring and pointless most times.

"Why did you come looking for us in the first place." Dylan asked.

"Australia's a big place. We'd work better as a team." To be honest he had been thinking that for a while now but he'd been to stubborn to admit it.

A few minutes later a man came out of the operating room with a clipboard in hand. "Hello, I'm Dr Clery, I'm here to ask a few routine questions about the patient. Standard procedure, I'm sure you'll understand."

The man looked around at the group unsure of who to ask. "Are any you blood relatives." No one answered. The doctor looked a little uncomfortable and then tried another tactic.

"Well, who has known the patient the longest?" he asked. Everyone looked at Fang.

"I guess that would be me." he answered. The doctor nodded and then looked looked at his clipboard.

"What is the patient's name?"

"Max." Fang responded automatically and then realised that might not have been the smartest idea. "ine." He quickly added. "Maxine Martinez." Dr Clery wrote that down and then proceeded to the next question.

"What is your relationship with, er, Maxine?"

"Boy, this could take a while," muttered Iggy. Fang elbowed him in the ribs and he just snickered.

"Just put friend." The doctor nodded. He continued on like this for a while asking fairly pointless questions then he retreated back into the operating room. They sat in silence for a while until Dr Clery returned.

"Dr Martin would like a word with you," he said looking at Fang. Fang got up and followed him through the door, his heart thudding rapidly in his chest. He saw Max's still body laid out on the white operating table.

The blood had been washed away and you could clearly see the gaping whole in her side encircled by torn and bloody flesh. Fang repressed the urge to vomit at the grisly sight. Max was hooked up to various machines all humming and beeping away. He looked at the heart monitor and saw her pulse was irregular and and much slower than it should be.

"Uh, Nick, is it?" asked Dr Martin. Fang nodded cautiously. "She's doing fine so far. We've removed the bullet but the force of the impact has fractured several ribs and torn one of her air sacs. Nothing her advanced healing won't be able to fix. But she has lost a substantial amount of blood and her heart is having difficlty pumping whats left of it around her body. I would make a blood tranfusion but the only blood we have in stock won't react very well with her avian DNA."

Fang stood as still as a statue. _How does he know all of this? Isn't he even a little bit freaked out about the whole mutant thing?_ "Are you an avian-human hybrid as well?" he asked. Fang didn't reply right away. He didn't know if he could trust him or not.

"Yes," he said slowly, wondering whether he was putting his life in danger by answering honestly.

"Would you be willing to donate some blood?" Fang mentally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Uh, yeah of course. But, how do you know about... us?" The Doctor looked up at Fang, clearly thinking through his answer.

"I'm not very proud of this." he muttered but continued anyway. "It was about nine years ago. My wife and I were, well we were in a tight financial situation. I had to start taking more shifts at the hospital and even then we'd be lucky to get three square meals a day. One day at work, a colleague of mine told me about a group of scientists who were attempting to graft avian DNA into humans. He told me that they needed new born children for it to work successfully. I was repulsed at the very thought. Then he told me that they were paying money for people to give up their children. A lot of money."

Fang just looked at him appalled. "You didn't did you?" he asked. The doctor swallowed.

"I'm ashamed to say that I did. My wife was already 3 months pregnant at the time. She was very ill because she wasn't getting enough food and she didn't have the necessary vitamins to keep her and the baby healthy. We both agreed that it was the only option. It was the only way that the baby could survive. They paid us quite a lot of money but it couldn't make up for we what we had done. My wife went into postpartum depression after she had to give up our baby boy. I stayed home a lot of the time to take care of her so I wasn't working as often. Soon the money we had ran out and we were stuck in the same situation as before. Again, we had no other choice. So we gave up our next baby as well. Our beautiful baby girl."

Dr Martin's voice broke at the end of the sentence. He coughed a little to clear his throat then continued anyway. "We tried many times to get them back. But we didn't know where to find them."

"How big is the age gap between your two children?" Fang asked.

"About two years. Why?" replied the doctor.

"I think I've found them."

**Ooooh! Can you guys guess who they are? I tried to make it as obvious as possible. Sorry if any of the stuff I said made no sense. I'm not a doctor so... just tell me if I'm speaking gibberish. Anyway, thanks for reading! :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry it took me a while to update. I had a severe case of writer's block. And on top of that I made a new world on minecraft and I was playing that for days straight. Again, I apologize. **

**Oh, and shout outs to LollipopDreams, PurpleUnicornK, FlightlessDreamer and coolynn for reviewing my last couple of chapters. You guys rock! :D Now back to the story...**

* * *

><p>"What?" he asked. Utter bewilderment showed on his face. Fang didn't know how to respond. It wasn't like he could just say 'Hey, your long lost children are sitting on the other side of that door'. He might give the man a heart attack.<p>

He grabbed Dr Martin by the arm and guided him out of the room. "This is Angel and the Gasman." Fang said pointing at Angel and Gazzy. The flock gave Fang curious looks but he ignored them. Dr Martin also had a questioning look on his face.

"And?" asked Dr Martin. Fang hesitated, trying to find a clever way to word what he wanted to say. In the end he just decided to go ahead and rip off the band-aid.

"They're your children." The reactions he received were quite comical and he was almost tempted to laugh. Except now was not the time. Angel and Gazzy's eyes widened to the size of tennis balls. Dr Martin opened his mouth as if he were about to say something but no sound came out. Audible gasps could be heard from Nudge, Iggy and Dylan.

Dead silence filled the room. You could probably have heard a pin drop from over a mile away. _For god's sake! One of you say something already!_ thought Fang.

Eventually Angel got up out of her chair and slowly walked up to Dr Martin. All eyes were on her and the doctor. Now that they were standing close to each other it wasn't hard to see the similarities between them. Dr Martin eyes were the same bright shade of blue as Angel's and Gazzy's. His hair was blonde but a few visible grey hairs stood out here and there.

Angel looked intently into the man's face no doubt searching through his thoughts. Then, as if deciding that it was true, she flung her arms around his waist. Dr Martin looked startled at first and staggered back slightly then returned the gesture by wrapping his arms around her. "I can't believe it's really you." he whispered in disbelief.

Angel let go and both her and Dr Martin looked over at Gazzy. He just sat there, his brain trying to process this new piece of information. "It's really him Gaz, he's our dad." Angel said in an attempt to convince him. Finally having accepted that this man was in fact his father, Gazzy folded his arms across his chest and set his jaw.

"How could you do that to us?" he asked Dr Martin. "You gave away not one, but two of your children just for some petty cash. And you knew what was going to be done to us as well." Guilt showed plainly upon Dr Martin's face. He shifted uncomfortably to one side and glanced down at the floor before returning the Gasman's gaze.

"I-I know it was a terrible thing to do and I really am sor-"

"Do you have any idea what they did to us?" Gazzy interupted. His voice was rising now. "Do you have any idea how much pain and suffering we had to go through? Instead of growing up in a home with actual parents like normal kids we had to grow up in cages and have needles jabbed into us every 10 minutes!"

He was on his feet now and was standing only inches away from Dr Martin. "I don't care if you are my biological father, I will never EVER forgive you for what you did to us!" Gazzy ran over to the open window and jumped out, unfurling his wings as he did so.

"Gaz, wait!" Angel cried desperately. She ran over to the window about to follow him, when she turned back to Dr Martin and said "I'm sorry." Then she dropped out of sight in pursuit of Gazzy.

The doctor just stood there, an array of mixed emotions showed on his face; shock, guilt, worry, confusion and shock again. Right at that moment Dr Clery stuck his head around the door. "Uh excuse me doctor, I hate to interupt but we really should make a blood transfusion as soon as possible." Dr Martin gave his head a quick shake as he was pulled out of his train of thought. Poor guy. He'd finally been reaquainted with his children only to find out that they wanted nothing to do with him.

* * *

><p>Max had already lost so much blood that both Fang and Iggy had to donate blood. Dylan offered to donate some too but we couldn't be sure that his blood was the same type as the rest of the flock seeing as he was replicated from another Dylan whereas the rest of the flock have had Avian DNA in their system every since they were born.<p>

It probably would've been fine but Dr Martin said he didn't want to take any chances. Fang threw Dylan a satisfied smirk at that piece of news that basically said "Ha ha I can help Max and you can't." Yes it was childish but he didn't really care.

Once Max was stitched back up and the transfusion was made her pulse returned back to a quick and steady rythym and colour returned to her face. She was still unconscious though which had Fang worried but Dr Martin reassured him that it was completely normal and that it still might be quite a while before she opens her eyes even taking her advanced healing rate into account.

Fang, Iggy, Nudge and Dylan all refused to leave so Dr Martin generously let them stay in the hospital room with Max. It was a private ward so it wasn't like they were being a nuisance to anyone anyway.

Angel and Gazzy hadn't come back yet. They all agreed that they'd give them a little longer before they go looking for them. They couldn't blame Gazzy for running off like that. After all it was quite a lot to take in. Hopefully Angel would be able to calm him down.

Fang was currently sitting beside Max's bed and gazing out the window. The sunset cast a beautiful pink tinge along the horizon, transforming the nearby clouds into a varitey of different shades including red, yellow, pink, orange and purple. How he longed to follow Angel and Gazzy's suit and jump out the window and take off into the sky.

His attention was pulled away from the window when he heard a slight stirring beside him. He looked over and saw Max trying to push herself up into a sitting position. Relief flooded through him. She was alright. Everything was going to be okay. She blinked a couple of times and scanned her surroundings. "Where the hell am I?" she asked no one in particular.

"Hospital," was all Fang said in reply.

"Are you crazy? Why on earth would you bring me to a hospital? You do realise you've put the whole flock in danger now!" she screamed at him.

"A simple thank you would suffice," Fang said calmly.

"Why should I be thanking you?" she spat at him.

"Well, you are alive aren't you? Would you rather I had left you there to bleed to death?" Max tried to come up with a scathing retort but nothing came to mind. She settled on giving him a scowl instead. _Ah, same old Max, _he thought.


	13. Chapter 13

**HHHHEEEELLLLLLLLOOOOO AGAIN FAITHFUL READERS! :D Thankyou all for reviewing! And thankyou to those who voted on my poll. Last time I checked I think it said 6 people have voted so if you're one of those 6 then thanks! It's greatly appreciated! Anywayyyyyy, this is just a short chappie on what happened when Gazzy and Angel left the hospital. The next chapter will pick up from where the last chapter ended. Sorry if it's a little confusing...**

* * *

><p>"Gazzy, wait up!" Angel yelled, trying desperately to catch up to him. Gazzy hesitated for a second before slowing down. It didn't take long before Angel appeared along side him.<p>

They flew in silence for a few minutes until Angel finally spoke up. "That was really rude you know,"

A flicker of anger crossed Gazzy's face. "He deserved it." he snarled.

"You didn't even give him a chance to explain."

"Why should I? And why are you taking his side? I'm your brother!" he snapped at her.

"Yeah and he's our father," Angel pointed out.

"He sure doesn't act like it. How could you forgive him so easily? After what he did to us!" Gazzy retaliated. Angel assumed that that was a rhetorical question but when she looked up she saw Gazzy looking at her expectantly, waiting for an answer.

"I saw what he was thinking," she said simply. She paused, trying to recall everything she saw in his mind.

"He was standing with his wife, our mum, and from the looks of her I could tell right away that she was sick. She was extremely thin and her skin was a horrible grey colour. Both of them had tears running down their faces. And then I saw you. When you were a baby. Dr Martin was holding you in his arms and they were saying... goodbye."

Gazzy still stared at her. "And? That doesn't explain anything!" he said impatiently. Angel sighed.

"She was dying Gazzy. They needed the money so she could live."

Silence filled the air as this piece of information sunk in. "Well that explains why they gave me up but it doesn't explain why they handed you over too." Gazzy said grudgingly. All sympathy he felt for his parents a few seconds earlier was gone.

"The money didn't last very long. Soon they were in the same situation as before. They had no choice."

"Of course they had a choice! There's always a choice! There are other ways to get money you know." Gazzy yelled.

"Well I'm glad they made that choice," Angel said quietly.

Gazzy looked taken aback. "What? How can you be glad that our parents handed us over to a bunch of evil scientists?"

"Well think about all of the things that would never have happened to us if they didn't give us up." Angel said. "We wouldn't have wings. We wouldn't have awesome powers. And most importantly, we would never have met the rest of the flock."

Gazzy was silent. He'd never thought of it that way before.

"I can't imagine my life without them. Without Max or Fang or Iggy or Nudge. I spent one month away from all of them and I swear I almost went insane. Sure, I have a lot of horrible memories from when I was at the school but I also have a million great memories of the six of us being together. And I wouldn't trade that for anything." Angel said.

Gazzy thought about everything that Angel had said. Meeting the rest of the flock was probably one of the best things that had ever happened to him. And just like Angel said, he couldn't imagine a life without them.

They were his best friends. His family. His life. They were always there for him, always had his back. And if his parents hadn't made the decision to give him and Angel up, he would never have met any of them.

"I guess you're right." Gazzy mumbled. He turned around and started heading back to the hospital.

"I always am." Angel pointed out and then she too turned around.

* * *

><p><strong>So what do you think? Too cheesy? I didn't really know how to make them react. Anyway, please review! And vote but mainly review! Remember any criticism and writing tips are welcome! So please review! :D It will make my day! :D <strong>

**Thanks for reading! **


	14. Chapter 14

I was awoken when a faint antiseptic smell drifted into my nose. _Oh crap. I'm at the school_. I opened my eyes blearily and attempted to push myself into a sitting position.

I was half expecting my arms to be tied to the table so I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could move them freely. I looked around the room and was confused as to why I wasn't surrounded by cages containing the latest 'experiment' or whitecoats ready to plunge a drug filled syringe into my skin. _Where the hell am I? _I thought.

"Hospital" a voice answered. I must have said my thoughts out loud without realising. I looked to my right and found the source of the voice. Fang. I looked around again and this time noticed Nudge, Dylan and Iggy asleep in chairs on the other side of the room.

And then it hit me. I wasn't captured by a bunch of insane whitecoats, they brought me here. I didn't know whether to feel grateful or pissed. I decided to go with the latter. "Are you crazy? Why on earth would you bring me to a hospital? You do realise you've put the whole flock in danger now!" I screamed at him.

"A simple thankyou would suffice," he said calmly.

"Why should I be thanking you?" I spat at him.

"Well, you are alive aren't you? Would you rather I had left you there to bleed to death?" Well I suppose that was a valid reason but I was too angry and frankly, too stubborn to say thank you. I didn't have a stinging comeback to that either so I just gave him one of my deadly scowls.

Usually, this simple facial expression strikes fear into anyone on the receiving end of it and I have them cowering at my feet. But not Fang. He just smirked and shook his head. God he's annoying.

I reached over to my little bed side table and grabbed a glass of water that was set there. I guess they were expecting me to wake up pretty soon. "So where are Gazzy and Angel?" I asked Fang as I went to take a sip of the water.

"Gazzy flew off when he found out the doctor was his dad." At that moment I had a mouth full of water so you can guess what I did next. Yep, I spat it out and it sprayed all over Fang just like in the movies.

"God Max was that really necessary?" he said angrily as he wiped the water off of his face.

"Nope," I answered. "I've just always wanted to do that."

"You're so annoying sometimes." Fang mumbled.

"Right back atcha." I replied. "So what exactly happened? Who's their dad? When did they find out? How did they react?" I had a million more questions but thought I'd ask the more important ones first.

While Fang filled me in on everything that happened while I was unconscious (which was quite a lot) one question kept bouncing around in my brain. Why was Fang here?

I was still confused as to how I was supposed to react to him being here. Should I be angry? Should I forgive him? Should I pretend like nothing happened? Wait I take that back. The last two are impossible. I don't fogive and forget that easily.

"Max are you even listening to me?" asked Fang as he waved his hand in front of my face to get my attention. Instead of answering his question, a question of my own slipped out of my mouth.

"Why are you here?"

Fang looked taken aback by my abrupt change of topic. "Uh, well, I've done some research and apparently this whole doomsday group thing is coming to Australia next and I figure we'll work better if our two groups joined together." Fang said the last part hurriedly, probably hoping that I wouldn't hear. It's not like Fang to admit something like that.

My next actions were entirely impulsive and a spur of the moment thing. I grabbed my pillow and whacked Fang in the head with it as hard as I could. "What the he-"

"You have the nerve to come back to me saying that we would work better as a team when you ditched me not too long ago saying the complete opposite!" I screeched at him. I jumped out of the bed, ignoring the pain in my abdomen, and continued to whack him with the pillow. "YOU COMPLETE ASS!" With every word I delivered another hard blow to his head.

By now Nudge, Dylan and Iggy had all woken up and were startled by the scene that greeted them. Dylan attempted to hold me back while Nudge tried to pry the pillow from my hands. I watched as Iggy stood halfway between the chairs and my bed not sure of what was going on.

After a while I stopped wrestling and let Nudge remove the pillow from my hands. I looked over to Fang to see him staring at me in shock. I was disappointed to see that my little outburst left no damage whatsoever. It was stupid of me to go for the pillow when my fist would have been much more effective.

"Uh Max?" Dylan said cautiously.

"What?" I snapped at him. I instantly regretted it. It's not fair that I take my anger at Fang out on him.

"You're bleeding." He said simply. He removed his hands from me waist and I could see a scarlet red stain blossoming on my white robe in the exact spot where the bullet pierced me.

"Crap." I said. My stitches must have opened up. I pressed my hand over the hole to try and stem the flow of blood.

"I'll go get Dr Martin." said Nudge as she hurried out of the room. I stood there awkwardly for a while unsure of what to do. I couldn't have a look at the wound without flashing everyone in the room. This is why shirts are the more suitable option. Not this flimsy white hospital gown thing.

Within a few minutes the so called Dr Martin showed up and he ushered everyone out of the room as he stitched me up for the second time. This time I was awake when he was doing it.

I tried not to look but my eyes were automatically drawn to the wound. I watched as the needle pierced my skin and was pulled out the other side. I'm usually good with this kind of stuff but the sight made me feel a little queasy. Maybe I'm only good with it when it's happening to someone else.

"All done," he said a few minutes later. _Well that was fast._

"Thanks" I mumbled.

"No problem. For the next 24 hours I suggest you try to refrain from anymore pillow fights." he said as he exited. I sat there feeling a mixture of anger and embarrassment. I didn't care if I was the one that started it, I still blamed Fang for this.


	15. Chapter 15

It was night already. I was sitting on my bed staring out of my window. The moon cast a ghostly light on it's surroundings turning the trees below into haunting, yet still beautiful sillhouettes. Everything was still. Everything was silent.

This had a very calming effect on me. After all the drama that had happened over the last few days, I think this was the first time I really felt relaxed. I was remotely safe and I had my flock back together once again. I just wanted to pause time and keep this feeling for a little bit longer.

Suddenly I felt something tap me on the shoulder and I jumped about a foot in the air. I don't even know how I managed to do that considering I was sitting down.

"It's just me." I heard Dylan say. Thanks to my exceptional eyesight I was able to clearly see him as he climbed up onto my bed and sat beside me. "Sorry for scaring you."

"I wasn't scared!" I said defensively. Dylan raised his eyebrows at me in reply. "Okay maybe a little." I admitted.

I shifted over to one side of the bed to give him more room. This reminded me of the night when we first arrived in Australia. Us sitting side by side and staring up at the stars. I just hoped it wouldn't turn into a repeat of that night.

"How come you're still up?" he asked me quietly. He was obviously trying not to wake the others up.

"Couldn't sleep. You?"

"Same." The silence returned and I was again reminded of that night. I knew sooner or later I would have to make up my mind about Dylan. I was hoping for later but I had a feeling that's not what Dylan had in mind when he came over to sit with me.

I was silently praying that he wouldn't bring it up and to my suprise he didn't. He did something much, much worse.

Before I knew what was happening his lips were pressed against mine. My brain was telling me to pull back, that it was a bad idea and that it would make everything else that more confusing but for some unknown reason, I didn't pull back.

Something inside me was overpowering my brain and telling me to go for it. So I did. My hands found their way to his neck and soon my fingers were entangled in his dark blonde hair.

I was kissing him back with just as much passion as he was kissing me. Our lips were moving perfectly in sync with eachother's. A perfect match.

His hands were wrapped around my waist and he was slowly pulling me closer to him and I happily obliged. My body still yearned to be closer, even though we were as close as we were ever going to get.

It felt so unbelievably good. Every thought left my mind. Everyone and everything in the room seemed to just vanish so that it was only me and Dylan left.

I found myself getting light headed and realised that I was forgetting to breathe. I didn't want to pull back so I concentrated on breathing through my nose instead.

The more oxygen I got back into my body the clearer my head became and common sense returned. _What the hell was I doing?_

I quickly pulled back and removed my hands from his hair. I looked at Dylan in shock. Horrified at what I had done and confused as to why I didn't stop it. I tried to say something but no sound came out of my mouth.

So I did what I always do in those kind of situations. I ran away. Well technically, I flew away. I jumped out of the window and snapped my wings out. At that moment I didn't care that I was supposed to be resting. I didn't care if my stitches opened up again. I didn't care if my flock woke up and saw I wasn't there. I was too shocked at what I had done to care about anything else.

I'm such an idiot. I've let Dylan think that something will happen between us now. And I can't say I don't feel the same way about him because clearly I do. Why else would I have kissed him back?

Like I wasn't under enough stress already with this whole saving the world thing. Now I've gone ahead and added Dylan to my ever growing list of things to worry about.

* * *

><p><strong>I know all you fax lovers probably want to kill me right now but I promise, there will be fax coming up! Anyway thanks for reading and don't forget to review! :D<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

The next day I was finally allowed to leave the hospital. I had to use a bit of my persuasive charm (meaning a bit of threatening) before Dr Martin agreed to let me go.

We were all sitting in the hospital room waiting for Gazzy and Angel. Their mum arrived at the hospital earlier this morning and they were currently in another room having a big happy family reunion. Whoop di doo.

I, on the other hand, wasn't in such a good mood. I was angry at Dylan, I was angry at myself, I was angry at the guy that shot me. I was angry at everyone! Nudge asked me how I was feeling this morning and I snapped at her for no reason at all. After that everyone seemed to get the message and left me alone.

No one noticed that I left last night, well except for Dylan. I could feel his gaze on me but I refused to meet his eye. Yes that was my brilliant plan. Ignoring him. Fang seemed to sense that something was going on between us and was in a sulky mood the whole time. I didn't care. I could ignore both of them.

At that moment the door opened and Dr Martin, his wife, Angel and Gazzy walked through. My stomach suddenly felt uneasy. I know it's selfish but I really wanted them to choose to stay with the flock. I didn't want to lose them.

I kept a blank and emotionless mask on my face so Angel and Gazzy wouldn't know how hurt I would be if they chose to leave us. "Well?" I was trying my best to keep my voice steady and was pleased that I managed to pull of a tone of impatience.

Angel looked at Dr Martin uncertainly. He gave a quick, imperceptible nod and Angel turned back to look at me. My heart was thudding a lot harder than usual as I waited for her reply. "We're staying." she said simply.

"W-what?" I stuttered. That wasn't the answer I was expecting.

"We talked about it and we realised that we just couldn't leave you guys."

I couldn't help mysel. I jumped off the bed and wrapped my arms tightly around Angel and Gazzy.

"I c-can't breathe!" Gazzy choked out as he wrestled against my grip. I released them both and Gazzy dramatically clutched his throat and noisily gulped in air. I was so excited that I didn't even bother to roll my eyes at him.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked them seriously. Angel nodded and Gazzy gave me a toothy grin in reply. Ah what the hell. I pulled them both into a second bone breaking hug just for the sake of it.

When I let go I looked up at Dr Martin and his wife. They were both awkwardly staring at the floor. It must hurt giving up your kids for a second time.

"Are you okay with this?" I asked them uncertainly. Technically they still had custody over Angel and Gazzy so they could force them to stay with them.

"Yes of course," said Dr Martin in a tone that led me to believe that he wasn't very happy about it. "We'll still be able to keep in touch through email anyway." He tried his best to smile and my heart swelled with sympathy.

I turned back to the others. "All right gang, let's go!" Nudge left the room first followed by Fang, Iggy and Dylan. Angel and Gazzy both gave their parents one final hug before leaving.

"Come back and visit soon okay?" he said to them.

"Definetely." said Angel in reply before she and Gazzy exited the room.

I was about to follow when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whirled around, expecting to come face to face with an eraser when I saw it was just Mrs Martin. "Take care of them." she pleaded quietly. From the look in her eyes I could tell that she was worried about letting her kids go.

I tried my best attempt at a comforting smile hoping that it looked just as sincere as I intended it to be. "Of course." I said honestly. She smiled back at me and nodded her head in thanks.

I turned and left the room and followed the rest of my flock out of the hospital and into the air. Boy did it feel good to finally be leaving this dreaded place...


	17. Chapter 17

**Sup guys? I'm so sorry I haven't been updating. I've been super busy. But now that it's the holidays I can write some more. YAY! Btw, HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE! This chapter can be my present to you guys. So enjoy :D oh and don't forget to review!**

* * *

><p>"Any ideas where we should go next?" I asked no one in particular. We were currently flying over, yep you guessed it... desert. I never thought I'd say this but I actually miss civillization.<p>

"We have to go back to where we last took off. Maya and the others are waiting for us." replied Fang.

"Oh joy," I said through gritted teethm trying my best to keep the sarcasm out of my voice but failing miserably.

The sun was beginning to set over the horizon. They say you're not supposed to look directly at the sun but I just couldn't help it. It was so mesmerising. I didn't understand how something so beautiful could be so harmful.

After a few minutes I was finally able to tear my eyes away from the setting sun. I looked down and saw the rest of 'Fang's gang' sitting on the ground below. Angel, Dylan, Nudge, Iggy and Fang all started to angle down towards them and I reluctantly followed.

"About time." growled Star as we landed. I literally had to bite my lip to refrain from making a scathing retort. Nudge gave me a questioning look at that and I just shook my head.

"Well we better set up camp for the night." said Fang as he walked over to pile of back packs which had been carelessly tossed onto the floor. "We'll discuss what we're going to do next tomorrow."

Everyone else went to pick up their bags while I plonked myself down on the softest bit of dirt I could find. I was startled when my pack landed with a soft thud in front of me.

"What the...?" I looked up to see Dylan standing in front of me. I thought that the flock would have left my bag behind. I mean they weigh a freaking ton as it is. I raised one eyebrow at him.

He simply shrugged in response. "I knew you'd be coming back." He walked away without saying another word.

Was he implying that he had been carrying my bag around all of this time? I know I was supposed to be mad at him but I couldn't help the small smile that crept onto my face. I quickly resumed a blank, emotionless mask before anyone saw. I opened my pack, pulled out my sleeping bag (which just happened to be at the very bottom) and set up for the night.

The others had set up a fire not to far away from where I was laying down. I could hear talking and laughter but I just didn't feel like joining in. And plus, I was in a very comfy position and I didn't feel like moving.

It was very relaxing. Listening to the crackling sounds of the flames and feeling a cool breeze sweep across my face. It was an ideal place to fall asleep. I closed my eyes and was just on the verge of drifting off to sleep.

In the dream I was lying on a white sandy beach. My wings were spread out beneath me soaking up the sun's warming rays. The ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see, its water crystal clear. All you could hear was the wind whistling through the palm trees overhead and the occasional soothing sound of a wave crashing on the sandy shore.

Angel and Nudge were splashing about in the waves. Total was writhing in Angel's grasp clearly not having as much fun as the two girls were.

Iggy and Gazzy were sitting a few feet away from me beneath the shade of a tall palm tree. They were laughing and building what looked suspiciously like a bomb.

I felt someone grab my hand and I turned my head to the side to see who it was.

Fang was lying down next to me. I'm not quite sure how we managed to be that close with both of our wings spread out beneath us but hey, its a dream. Anything's possible.

We layed there, hand in hand, just looking at eachother. He had one of his rare, breathtaking smiles on his face and I couldn't help but return it with a smile of my own. And that's when the pain hit.

An explosion seemed to go off in my brain. I sat bolt upright letting go of Fang's hand. My teeth were grinding together and my eyes were squinted shut.

My brain felt like it was going split apart at any second. I brought my knees up and curled myself into a ball. My hands were clutching my head and I realised that I was yanking extremely hard on my hair. I disentangled my fingers from my hair and balled my hands into fist instead.

Blood seeped through my closed fingers as my nails dug into my skin. I also felt a dribble of blood run down my chin from where I'd accidentally bitten down on my lip. I could vaguely hear Fang saying my name over and over again but other then that I was completely unaware of my surroundings. Images flashed across my brain.

The colours all jumbled together making me feel dizzy and sick. A few words and pictures stuck out; an abondoned factory, a detailed drawing of a map and a complicated looking diagram, but the rest was a complete blur. I could hear a a string of words being repeated over and over again but I had difficulty making them out. My head was throbbing, the pain was worsening with every passing second.

I sat upright, gasping for air. The pain had subsided and all it left in its wake was a mild headache. My breathing was irregular and shaky and my shirt and hair was drenched in cold sweat. I looked over and saw that the others were still huddled around the fire, laughing and talking. The scene looked the exact same as it had when I'd fallen asleep.

My breathing had somewhat returned to normal but I was shaking like crazy. I thought I was finished with the brain attacks. Now I'm having them in my dreams?

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! :D<strong>


	18. Chapter 18

**Yay! 23 reviews! I know it's not much compared to other stories but I'm still pretty happy! It just makes my day when I see that someone has reviewed my story! Some of you have probably noticed that I changed the name of the story. I just thought 'chapter' was a little confusing, making people believe that it was just one chapter. It's now 'adventure' instead, which I'm still not entirely happy with. If you guys could come up with a better idea for a title I'd really love to hear it! :D**

* * *

><p>I ended up having two more brain attacks that night. Everytime I managed to drift off to sleep my head would explode again. The same images and words flashing across my mind, none of it making any sense. Luckily I didn't cry out loud and wake the others up.<p>

I'm sure it's no big deal. I've had them before. I might just be going through a relapse phase or something. It's probably nothing to worry about.

I found myself unpacking my bag and then repacking it just to entertain myself. I didn't want to go to sleep. I didn't think I could go through another one of those brain attacks. Although it wasn't actually happening to me and it wasn't real, the pain _felt_ real. I found myself worn out and shaky afterwards even though it was all just a dream.

As I was repacking my bag for the fiftieth time an idea came to my mind. I retrieved an apple from my pack and placed it a short distance away from me. Taking a deep breath, I held out a hand and willed the apple to move towards me. I stayed like that for a few seconds and then when nothing happened I sighed and dropped my hand.

How was I able to knock the guns out of the guys' hands back on the rooftop but I couldn't manage to move a single apple? Maybe I had to be under pressure or something. You know, hyped up on adrenaline and all that. I decided to give it one more go but this time I was attempting to push the apple away.

I slammed my palm forward towards the apple expecting it to remain where it was but to my utter surprise and delight the apple tumbled backwards landing a few good feet away from me.

"YES!" I yelled while fist pumping the air. I quickly slapped my hands across my mouth and looked around to check if I had woken anyone up. Iggy stirred slightly but then quickly resumed his snoring.

I held out my hand again and pulled it back trying to bring the apple back with it. Nothing happened. The smile on my face disappeared and was replaced by a look of disappointment. So I could push things away but I couldn't bring them back. Bummer.

Several hours passed before I finally got bored of making things fly away from me with my mind (Wow, I never thought I'd say that sentence). It was still pretty dark but the first signs of dawn could be seen appearing over the horizon. I crawled out of my sleeping bag and tiredly gathered up all of the items that I had scattered over the ground. The furthest one that I had to pick up was a good fifteen feet away from where I was sitting which I have to admit, I was pretty proud of.

I walked over to where the fire had been last night. All that was left was a black, smouldering pile of sticks and rubble. Littering the ground around it were numerous chip packets, chocolate wrappers and soda cans. Must have been some party I missed last night.

I slid down to the ground and leant against my bag. My eyelids were slowly drooping but I refused to let myself fall asleep. Out of sheer boredom, I attempted to untangle the wild bird's nest that was my hair. It was getting pretty long and it was about time I hacked another few inches off of it. I soon gave up, only having succeeded in removing the minor knots.

I was contemplating on waking Nudge or Iggy up just so I would have someone to talk to when I noticed a small circular scar on the back of my right hand. It was just the outline of a circle, about the size of a bottle cap. The scar looked pretty recent but I couldn't remember when or how it appeared.

"What are you doing?" I jumped a little and snapped my head around to see who the owner of the voice was. Fang was walking towards me, his black hair ruffled and sticking out in all directions though I guarantee mine was still messier.

"Nothing." I said a little too quickly. He raised one eyebrow at me but didn't pursue the subject. He sat down beside me and picked up a stick and idly started poking the smouldering remains of the fire in front of us causing little wisps of smoke to drift into the air.

"You look terrible," he said moving his gaze away from the fire and onto me.

"Good morning to you too." I said sarcastically but my hand self consciously flew to my hair as I brushed a few strands of it away from my face.

"I didn't mean it in that way," he rolled his eyes at me. "Did you get any sleep last night?" his hand came up to my face to touch the bags under my eyes. I reflexively flinched away from his outstretched hand and he dropped it with a small shrug.

"Y-yes." I wasn't exactly lying. I did manage to get a few minutes of sleep before the brain attacks kicked in. I felt the blood rush to my cheeks when I suddenly remembered what I was dreaming about. Unfortunately, he noticed. His eyebrows were pulled together in confusion and he was studying my face intently.

I looked right back at him. His black, obsidian were so full of depth. They seemed to go on and on like a neverending ocean of black. Right at that moment, I wished more than anything that we could go back to the way we were. Best friends, always looking out for eachother, telling eachother anything. I've always been close to the flock but Fang was different. He saw right through me. He could always tell when something was wrong even when I was trying my best to hide it.

His hand came up again but this time it was to brush away the few of the strands of hair that I had missed. I didn't flinch back this time, giving him permission to go ahead. A shiver ran through me when his fingertips came in contact with my skin. I don't know if it was all in my head but I could have sworn that he lingered a little longer than was necessary.

"Ahem." I tore my eyes away from Fang at the sound of Maya coughing impatiently behind us. It took every bit of will power that I had not to rip her head off right then and there. She promptly walked over to us and sat right in between me and Fang.

"So, what are we talking about guys?" she asked looking expectantly at Fang. Other than saying "guys" she in no way acknowledged that I was there.

"I was just leaving." I said getting to my feet. I was beginning to worry that if I stayed there any longer I actually would end up ripping her head off. I wasn't so much worried for her, but worried about getting blood on my new jacket.

"Max, you don't have to-" Fang started but he was interrupted by Maya.

"Let her go Fang. She's probably not used to looking at a clone of herself yet." Maya said but I could tell she knew that wasn't the reason I was leaving.

"Exactly," I agreed through gritted teeth. "If I wanted to look at myself all day I'd go stand in front of a mirror." _A mirror would be better company, _I thought to myself as I walked away.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for reading! And don't forget to review! :D<strong>


	19. Chapter 19

"I don't understand why they're being so open about their whereabouts." I said for about the billioneth time. "They're awfully easy to track down."

"Isn't that a good thing Max?" asked Kate. Kate was the only one out of Fang's gang that I found remotely tolerable. I was actually beginning to like her.

"Yeah, I guess so." I sighed. "I just find it a little odd that's all." I glanced down at the crinkled, bright green flyer that I was holding in my hands. Across the top in large, block letters were the words "The One Light".

It then proceeded to explain what exactly the Doomsday Group was and how the earth needed to be cleansed in order to save humanity blah, blah, blah. Nothing we didn't already know. Then at the very bottom of the page was a date and an address inviting people to a convention being held soon.

Kate had come across the flyer a few days ago and we weren't sure whether or not we should go considering that the last convention didn't end so well...

"Found anything yet?" I asked Nudge. She was sitting beside me, her fingers flying over the keypad on the laptop in front of her.

"Nope," she said her eyes remaining glued to the screen. Me, Kate and Nudge were huddled together under the shade of a tall gum tree. The heat didn't bother me so much anymore. But the flies, they most certainly did get on my nerves.

The worst thing was that when you swatted them away they just kept coming back. So I came up with a brilliant way to get them to stay away from me. You simply swat them in the direction of someone else and they'll stick like glue to them. Yes, it wasn't exactly fair on the others but it was quite a lot of fun.

"So are we going?" Kate finally asked the question that we were all pondering on for the last hour. She obviously wasn't used to the heat yet. Sweat was glistening on her forehead and her beautiful black hair was thrown up in a messy bun on the top of her head. Her hand waved in front of her face for the hundredth time as she batted away a very persistent fly. I allowed myself a satisfied smile. I gave her that fly a few minutes ago...

"I think we should go." I said making up my mind. I closed my eyes and let the warm breeze wash over me. I was lying on my back, hands behind my head. It was so peaceful I could have fallen asleep. Not that I would let that happen after last night.

I could hear Nudge hesitate slightly before giving her answer. "Are you sure? It could be dangerous. Remember what happened at the last convention..." she trailed off and I knew she was thinking about the explosion in Paris.

I already considered the fact that it was dangerous but to be honest, I didn't really care. I wanted to do something dangerous. I wanted to do something life-threatening. I wanted to feel the familiar rapid pumping of my heart when a gun gets pointed straight at me. Or feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins as I run away from erasers or other bloodthirsty monsters.

I may be going crazy, or it could be the lack of sleep talking, but I desperately wanted to go out and do something stupid and reckless and not care about the consequences that followed.

"I agree with Nudge." Kate said unexpectedly.

My eyes flew open in shock. "What?"

"Well, it's just that we've already been to one already. What could they possibly say that we haven't already heard before?" Kate shrugged. "I just don't think it's worth the risk, that's all."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Isn't that the whole reason we came to Australia? To find out more about this Doomsday Group and to try and put a stop to it? We've practically been handed an invitation to learn more about them and you're just going to ignore it?" my voice had risen to a half scream without me realising it.

"Okay, okay. Calm down." Kate said exhaustedly. "I still don't think it's a good idea. How about a vote?"

* * *

><p>"All those in favour of not going to the convention, raise your hand." Kate said as she raised her own. I looked around the group and was surprised and a little disappointed at the number of hands that went up.<p>

"Are you serious?" I practically yelled. The only other people that agreed with me in going to the convention were Fang, Maya, Dylan and Ratchet. We were outvoted, seven to five.

I was disapponted that every member of my flock said they didn't want to go. Well, apart from Fang. I wasn't actually sure if he still classified as part of the flock but there was a small part of me that desperately hoped so.

"We only just arrived in Australia. I was kind of hoping that we could relax for a bit you know?" Star said idly whilst looking over her perfectly manicured nails. A few of the others nodded in agreement.

"When is it?" piped up Gazzy.

Kate looked down at the fluro green flyer clutched in her hand. "Um, midnight tonight." she said looking up.

"Midnight?" Maya repeated confused. "That's an odd time to hold a convention isn't it?"

"Well, that's what it says. Midnight." Kate said, double checking the flyer.

"Well if you guys don't want to go, how about just the five of us go instead." Ratchet said. I was beginning to consider his proposal when Angel cut in.

"No. Absolutely not." Everyone looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"Well why not?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"We're not splitting up. The last time we did that I was separated from you guys. I don't want to risk that happening again." Angel said in a small voice.

In that precise moment, she looked so young and innocent and I instantly felt a pang of sadness. She reminded me of the old Angel. The one that always welcomed everyone with a smile and frequently asked me if we could go strawberry picking. She's grown up right so much and I didn't even notice.

"Okay. We won't go." I said quietly.

"What?" Fang said. He looked over at me as if I'd suddenly gone crazy.

"If they don't want to go and we can't split up then we're staying put." I said firmly.

Angel gave me a small smile which instantly filled me with guilt. I was lying. I'm going to the convention no matter what everyone else said about it.


	20. Chapter 20

It was nearing midnight. I tied my hair back into a careless ponytail, threw on a jacket and slid the doomsday group flyer into my inside pocket.

The flock was sound asleep. It was a stroke of luck that they decided to hit the hay earlier tonight.

They'd probably wake up in six or seven hours (nine for Iggy) which gave me plenty of time to go to the convention and back before anyone realised I was gone.

I snapped out my wings and was about to take off when a hand grabbed my wrist. I whirled around, pulling my fist back and was about to set it flying to deliver a nose breaking punch when the person spoke.

"Chillax man, it's just me." Ratchet let go of my wrist and I let my arm fall limply back to my side. Well, crap. I began desperately trying to formulate a believable excuse for where I was going but no ideas came to mind.

"Please don't tell anyone." was all that I managed to say.

The corner of Ratchet's mouth quirked up in a mischievious smirk. "I won't," I breathed a sigh of relief. "As long as you take me with you."

"What? No way!" I said a little too loudly. I then remembered that the others were sleeping and quickly lowered my voice. "I'm not taking you with me." I whispered harshly.

"Fine. Then I might just wake everyone up and tell them where you're going. HEY GUYS-" Ratchet started shouting before I quickly slapped my hand over his mouth to shut him up.

I quickly looked around at the others and was surprised to see that they were all still fast asleep. Damn these guys slept heavily...

"Fine. You can come." I said through gritted teeth. I removed my hand from his mouth and a he smiled a triumphant smile which only made me even more infuriated.

"Wait, how are we going to get there. You can't fly." I realised. From the look on Ratchet's face apparently he didn't think that part through.

"I dunno. Maybe you could carry me?" he suggested. I hesitated. If it were Angel of Gazzy then yeah, I could carry them. But Ratchet was a lot bigger.

"I don't know. I might be able to carry you for a bit but we won't get very far." I said uncertainly.

"Well we don't need to fly all the way there. Just until we come across a car or something."

"Fine." I said grudgingly. "I'll give it a shot."

* * *

><p>We managed to make it quite a few miles before my wings refused to go any further.<p>

"Ratchet, we're going to have to land." I panted. I was holding him under his arms and he was dangling awkwardly below me.

"Worn out already babe?" he asked just to annoy me.

"I swear to God, I will drop you," I threatened him but he just chuckled in response.

"Okay. Land here. There's a few cars below." he pointed to a general direction somewhere to my left. I personally couldn't see anything so I was relying entirely on his enhanced eyesight.

Angling down towards the ground, I could soon clearly see the cars Ratchet was referring to. They were parked outside a small grocery store. The rundown walls and the unused petrol station next to it was strikingly familiar.

"Hey, I've been here before!" I exclaimed as realisation dawned on me. It was the little shop that I went to on our first day in Australia. They were about several cars parked out the front. Why they were there in the middle of the night I had no idea.

About three metres from the ground my wings couldn't carry the weight any longer and we plummeted. Ratchet landed in a ungraceful heap on the ground below and then I toppled straight onto him.

"Sorry." I said, only half meaning it. I was still annoyed at him for making me bring him with me. "Thanks for breaking my fall by the way." That time I meant it 100%. I clambered off of him and then offered a hand to help him get back on his feet.

"You're welcome," he grumbled as he brushed the sand off the front of his jeans.

We tiptoed quietly to one of the cars. For once I was thankful for all the sand as it muffled our footsteps nicely. The door was miraculously unlocked which saved me the trouble of having to break it open myself. Obviously the owner of the vehicle wasn't planning on spending too long in the shop. Either that or he's just incredibly careless.

"How are you going to start it? You don't have the keys." Ratchet pointed out but I just ignored him. I knew several ways to hotwire a car but I decided to try the less risky one first. I pulled my screwdriver out of my pocket and slid the tip of it into the ignition and turned it. The car started up immediately.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Ever since I accidentally gave myself an electric shock from using the battery and starter wire technique I've tried to stick with the screwdriver one instead. The only downside to that is that it only works about half of the time.

"Hurry up and get in." I whispered to Ratchet while I myself climbed into the driver's seat.

"That's what she said." Ratchet replied and then started laughing. I, however, did not find it very amusing.

"Real mature." I growled at him before putting the car in reverse. I've gotten better at driving since I first attempted it but that didn't mean that I was any good at it. Luckily the area we were in was rather empty so they were no fire hydrants or trees that I could accidentally drive in to.

After a few minutes of driving in silence Ratchet finally spoke up. "Pull over. This is it." he said pointing out of his window. I did as he said and attempted to smoothly park the car with didn't exactly go as planned. We slammed to a sudden halt causing Ratchet to smack his head on the dashboard.

"Watch it, woman!" he snarled at me. I rolled my eyes and stepped out of the car.

"Where the hell did you learn to drive?" he asked as he angrily rubbed the spot on his forehead where he collided with the car.

"I didn't." I replied before walking off to the convention leaving a shocked and angry Ratchet behind me.

* * *

><p><strong>Just to be clear, I am in no way encouraging you guys to hotwire a car so please don't attempt it otherwise you will be arrested... and if that does happen, don't tell anyone where you learnt how, okay? Good. Oh and don't forget to review! :D<strong>


	21. Chapter 21

**Soo here's the next chapter. It's been a while, I know. So to anyone who has actually stuck with this story, I sincerely apologise. I was hoping that this story would be finished before the last Maximum Ride book came out but unless I somehow finish writing this fanfic in the next week, it doesn't look like that's going to happen :( I know, it's very depressing... Anyway, on with the story! **

* * *

><p>A large abandoned building loomed up ahead of us. It was a fairly boring building with its bland grey cement walls and the occasional bit of faded graffiti. A warm, yellow glow could be seen spilling out of the entrance way, illuminating the figure of a person standing beside the door. Ratchet and I walked up to the entrance and was greeted by the figure, who up close I could see was a very pretty young lady who looked to be in her early twenties. Her eyes were glassy and slightly unfocused and she had freaky smile plastered on her face. The tell-tale signs of someone who's been brainwashed.<p>

"Welcome!" she smiled at us. Her voice was smooth and melodious. "The One Light thanks you for joining us this evening. Please, take this brochure," she said handing us a colourful brochure entitled 'The cleansing of the planet', "I hope this answers any questions or concerns you may have." she concluded and then gestured with her that we should go through .

"Uh, thanks." I mumbled before walking on.

As soon as we were out of ear shot of the woman Ratchet walked up behind me. "What does it say?" he asked, peering over my shoulder.

I cleared my throat before reading the pamphlet out loud.

"Join us in our noble quest to cleanse the world of its impurities. Thanks to the One Light, we can be free of our afflictions and live together in a better world, in peace.

"Look around us. The polar ice caps are melting, the sea levels are rising and climate change is becoming more and more evident. The earth is dying and who's to blame? Humanity of course. We've become so obsessed with gaining wealth and power that we are blinded to the consequences of our actions.

"The One Light has come up with a solution to this problem. The One Light has created a plan involving a race of new humans, flawless and superior. This plan includes the eradication of those who have destroyed this planet allowing the earth's beauty and radiance to be restored to its former glory.

"Only those that are of the new generation of humans will be granted this generous opportunity so join us now and you too can be saved and perfected. Help us take back what is rightfully ours and cleanse the earth of all of its impurities."

Ratchet and I stared at the paper in shock. "Soo that's basically a fancy way of saving 'Join us or die', right?" Ratchet asked, leading me over to a seat near the back of the building. I nodded mutely, still absorbing all of this new information.

"How do you think they're going to do it?" Ratchet asked curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"How are they going to 'eradicate' all of the humans. There's like seven billion people living on earth. What could they possibly do that could wipe every single one of them out?" I mulled this over in my brain. A rather unlikely scene played out in my head where millions of hi-tech air crafts flew around shooting laser beams at everyone in sight leacing nothing but piles of ash behind. Nope, that's probably not how they're going to do it...

"No idea. But I'm willing to bet it's not going to be pleasant..." I murmured.

A figure walked out of a side door and a sudden hush fell over the crowd. The figure was cloaked in long black robe complete with a hood which completely obscured the figure's face from sight making me feel like I was in some sort of horror movie. I half expected him to lift his hood, revealing his hockey mask and then come charging at us whilst wielding a chainsaw in his hand.

My thoughts were interrupeted when the figure started to address the room. "Welcome!" the figure said in a deep, booming voice which I clearly identified as male. "There's a reason that we've gathered you together today, and that reason is to warn you. The end is nigh. The apocalypse is coming." A few audible gasps could be heard from the large crowd. I simply rolled my eyes. This shouldn't be a shock to anyone seeing as everyone that was here knew exactly what the convention was for. I suppose it was just for dramatic effect...

"The humans who currently rule this planet are destroying our beloved mother earth and for this they must be punished." the hooded figure said. BeI was unable to hear what he had to say next as a piece of fabric was suddenly forcefully shoved into my mouth, gagging me. I looked frantically over to Ratchet and saw that he too had been gagged. The next thing I knew I was being roughly pulled off of my chair and dragged through a set of doors and down a flight of stairs.

The room I was led into was pitch black so I couldn't see who the culprit was. I was violently shoved onto a chair and someone grabbed my hands and tied them together behind my back so tightly that I instantly knew that if they stayed like that for longer than ten minutes I would loose all circulation in my hands.

I kicked and screamed as hard as I could but to no avail. My screams turned out muffled and did nothing but give me a hoarse throught. My kicking, however, did manage to help in some way. My foot colided with something solid and I heard someone utter a string of profanities under their breath. I smirked in triumph. Well, tried to smirk. It's kind of hard to do when you have a mouth full of fabric.

Someone -I'm guessing the owner of the foul mouth- obviously got fed up with my kicking and bound both of my ankles to the chair legs putting an end to my leg workout.

"Well, well, well. So nice of you to join us Maxie." a voice drawled lazily. I instantly froze up. I knew that voice. I would recognise it anywhere. But it can't be. It's completely impossible.

I sensed the person move nearer to me, so close that I could feel their hot breath fan against the side of my neck. "Long time, no see hey sis?" Ari growled menacingly into my ear.


	22. Chapter 22

**HELLOOO FAITHFUL READERS! I'm terribly sorry that I haven't updated in AGES! I've been super busy. Wait, that's not the right word. I've just been super lazy, that's it. I'm so sorry! Please accept my sincere apology! Anyway, yes this story is still going ahead despite the fact that Nevermore has come out. I've decided I'm not going to read Nevermore until I finish, well, my Nevermore. Hopefully this will give me to motivation to finish this fanfic because I REALLY WANT TO READ IT! And also, if I do read it, I think it may influence the way this fanfic turns out and I really don't want that to happen.**

**Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

><p>With great difficulty, I finally managed to spit the cloth that was gagging me out of my mouth. My tongue got a great workout in the process I can assure you...<p>

"Ari? How can you be here?" I asked in shock. My eyes were beginning to adjust to the dark just enough so that I could make out the hulking outline of Ari looming in front of me.

"I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific." Ari drawled.

"You _died!_" I said emphatically. "I saw it! You had an expiration date and everything!"

Ari simply chuckled, his laugh cold and menacing. "Why so surprised? It's not the first time I've come back from the dead. Remember?" Ari asked. He bent down to pick up the cloth that landed on the floor and tsked disapprovingly before throwing it onto my lap.

The image of Ari's lifeless body lying in the sodden subway tunnels of New York flooded back to me, his neck twisted at an unnatural and grisly angle. I shook my head to get rid of the resurfacing memory and focused on the situation at hand. "This is different!" I argued. "We even buried you! If your suggesting that you somehow climbed out of your grave-" I began.

Ari held his hand up to silence me. He returned to my side and bent down so that he was at my level. "Would you believe it if I told you that wasn't me?" he said in a scratchy whisper. His hot breath fanned across my cheek and I wrinkled my nose as the faint metallic smell of blood filled my nostrils. Holy crap, Ari's a vampire.

"Sadly, no. I am not a vampire." Ari said in an amused tone. Oops, must have said my thoughts out loud.

I ignored him and returned to our previous conversation. "What do you mean that wasn't you?" I asked.

"Consider me a... replica of the old Ari." he replied nonchalantly.

"What do you mean by 'replica'? Like Maya?" I asked him.

"If by 'Maya' you mean Max 2 then yes, like Maya." Ari answered. I sat in silence for a moment digesting all of this information. A million thoughts were buzzing around in my head, a few briefly coming to the surface of my mind before plunging back into the chaotic jumble of thoughts.

"What do you want with us?" Ratchet snapped. I jumped slightly having completely forgotten that he was there. It was a fair question. As far as I knew Ari wasn't affiliated with the Doomsday Group at all.

"Well nothing with _you._ I don't even know who you are." Ari spat at Ratchet. "It's her I want."

I wanted to speak but I seemed to be momentarily stunned into silence. It was a lot to process.

"What do you want with _her _then?" Ratchet asked having picked up on my inability to speak. Ari leaned in closer to me and I frantically tried to free my hands from the ropes binding me to the chair. I knew it was no use but I stupidly kept trying and soon I could feel warm blood trickling down my hands from where the rope had cut into the skin.

"I thought it was about time for a family reunion." Ari said grinning evilly. Think, Max, think. How am I going to get out of this one? From the looks of it, Ari had only brought along two 'pals' to help gag us and tie us up. They should be easy enough to take down. Ari may be a bit more difficult but I reckon I could do it.

Great, so that's sorted. Now all I have to do is get out of this flipping chair. Three burly guys? No problem. One chair? Not so easy. After all the battles I've survived and and the deadly situations I've managed get out of, wouldn't it be embarrassing if the great Maximum Ride was defeated by a chair and some rope.

I had given up on trying to wriggle my wrists out of the rope and I didn't even bother to try with my ankles. So, hands and feet are a no. My head? That might work.

I slammed my head forward, smashing my skull against Ari's. A blinding pain seared across my forehead. I am never doing that again. Although it appears that Ari got the worst of it. After a yelp of pain he crumpled onto the floor, completely unconscious.

The two men standing in the corners started moving towards me so I had to act fast. I hobbled over to the wall and attempted to throw myself at it. The chair snapped in the collision along with something in my shoulder. I gritted my teeth in pain and hurriedly untangled my body from the splintered wood.

I elbowed the first guy that was upon me in the jaw and got the satisfaction of seeing it dislocate right before my eyes. He then threw his fist at my jaw in revenge but I ducked down just in time and swept my leg beneath his, knocking his legs out from under him.

I didn't have time to take pleasure in seeing the guy moaning in pain on the floor as I had the second guy to contend with. I grabbed one of the chair legs from the floor and whacked him upside the head with it and just for that extra touch I then kneed him in the groin.

My shoulder and wrists still throbbed painfully as I hurried over to Ratchet and helped untie him from his chair. Without a word, we quickly and swiftly exited the room and made our way back to where the convention was being held. The hooded figure was still blabbering on about the One Light and it appeared that no one had noticed the little struggle that had gone on at the back.

We almost made it all the way out without being noticed until we got to the door. "Leaving already?" the creepy woman with the pamphlets asked. "The convention is not yet over." she said, smiling that overly large smile again.

I didn't even bother giving a response and just shoved her out of our way. What can I say? We were in a hurry. Who knows how long Ari and the others will stay down for.

I was about to whip my wings out and take off when I remembered that Ratchet was still with me. "Max, the car's this way!" Ratchet yelled over to me. I sighed. It would be so much easier if Ratchet could fly.

I heard a shriek and whirled around just in time to see the pamphlet lady fall to the floor. Ari and the two men were standing in the doorway. The man that had shoved the woman suddenly spotted me and immediately pointed me out to the other two. Well, crap.

"Ratchet, go!" I yelled back to Ratchet who was already seated in the car. I was still a good distance away from the vehicle and the men were approaching fast. I knew I wouldn't make it. Ratchet looked confused at first but then spotted Ari and his team and seemed to understand. The car roared into life and Ratchet sped away.

Unfurling my wings, I launched myself into the air when suddenly Ari grabbed hold of my ankle and pulled me back down.

I pumped my wings as hard as I could and viciously kicked out in attempt to break free of Ari's grip. His claw like nails dug deep into my skin, refusing to let go. I winced in pain but continued struggling anyway. At least the pain in my leg distracted me from the pain in my shoulder.

With one final well aimed kick to Ari's nose, he released my ankle to stem the gushing stream of blood now coming from his nose. I smirked in triumph and flew further up into the sky until I was well out of their reach.


End file.
